Keanu Reeves Tells How He Landed THE MATRIX Role
The Matrix was such an amazing groundbreaking piece of filmmaking. I remember the first time I saw that movie it completely blew my mind. I couldn't believe that kind of stuff could be done in movies. It was like seeing Star Wars for the first time. After the movie came out there was a slew of films that tried to capture that cutting-edge awesomeness. Most of them fell flat on their face though.
Before Keanu Reeves came on board to star as Neo in the movie, the part was Will Smith's for the taking. After The Wachowskis met with Reeves, though, they knew that he was "The One." During a recent Reddit AMA the actor shared the story of meeting The Wachowskis for the first time and how he landed the role.
"I was very lucky. I got a call from my agent, saying that these directors, the Wachowskis, wanted to meet, and they sent me the script, and the script was absolutely amazing, and I went in to meet with them, and they showed me some artwork, of their vision, and an early version of 'bullet time,' and it was very exciting and inspiring.
"We ended up hanging out in a parking lot outside the offices just talking and riffing, and we basically just kinda shook hands - they told me they wanted me to train for 4 months prior to filming, and I got a big grin on my face and said: 'Yes.' That's how it happened."
I can only imagine how exciting it must have been for Reeves to land a role like this. It kind of set the course for the rest of his career. I know the actor gets a lot of crap from people, but I like him as an actor. He makes really fun movies that I enjoy, and The Matrix is easily one of his best. It would be great to see him team back up with The Wachowskis for another film project, whether it is Matrix related or something completely different. They have the ability to make really cool movies together.