Can it really be 15 years since “The Matrix” was released in theaters? Yep — it was March 31, 1999, that Neo first learned there was no spoon. Here are some fun facts to make you glad he took the red pill.
‘The Matrix’ starring … Will Smith?!
Keanu Reeves wasn’t the first choice for Neo. No big surprise there, as Reeves’ career was floundering at the time. One of the many who turned down the role was Will Smith, who rode off to do “Wild Wild West” instead. “I would have absolutely messed up ‘The Matrix,’ ” Smith told Wired. “At that point, I wasn’t smart enough as an actor to let the movie be — whereas Keanu was.” Yeah, Will, whereas you didn’t mess up “Wild Wild West” at all. Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise also reportedly turned down the role, according to IMDB.
Samuel L. Jackson almost stepped into Morpheus’ shoes
Nor was Laurence Fishburne the first choice for Morpheus. Samuel L. Jackson was among those who reportedly turned down the part, which is poetic justice because Fishburne had turned down Jackson’s part in “Pulp Fiction.” And just to put the cherry on top of the sundae, earlier this year, Jackson went off on an interviewer who mistook him for Fishburne.
Numbers, numbers everywhere!
The numbers 1 and 3 are everywhere in the movie. “Neo” is an anagram for “one,” whereas the Carrie-Ann Moss character is “Trinity.” Numbers spotted in the background often have the numerals 1 and/or 3 in them.
The Wachowskis made the actors do work, homework that is
The Wachowskis made the actors do homework. Reeves and other actors in the film were required by writer-directors Larry (now Lana) and Andy Wachowski to digest heavy philosophical treatises such as Jean Baudrillard’s “Simulacra and Simulation” (a copy of which pops up in the movie as the place where Neo stashes forbidden computer software).
Neo’s jump was inspired by Looney Toons
But they weren’t completely pretentious. The Wachowskis said that the scene in which Neo first tries and fails to learn to jump, then bounces harmlessly off the ground, is modeled after Wile E. Coyote.
Chicago gets a shout-out
The street names are all from Chicago. The Wachowskis grew up there, so they used hometown shout-outs for specific locations. The movie was shot in Sydney, Australia.
‘Bound’ for ‘The Matrix’
Producer Joel Silver was skeptical about the Wachowskis’ ability to pull it off. He told them to go make another, smaller-scale movie first, so they went off to do 1996’s “Bound.”
‘The Matrix’ goes green
Green is why the Matrix looks weird. A green filter was used on all the scenes shot of the Matrix, which gave it that otherworldly feel, as though we’re seeing it through a monitor. Also, the color blue was removed from everything we see in the Matrix.
Keanu Reeves stole a signature move from Bruce Lee
Keanu Reeves borrowed a Bruce Lee gesture. Lee, the kung fu star of “Enter the Dragon,” used to kick off his fight scenes by rubbing his nose with a thumb and forefinger. Reeves picked up the gesture for “The Matrix.”
The S&M joint actually exists!
The S&M club is a real place. The Wachowskis simply asked habitués of the Hellfire Club in Sydney to show up in their costumes for the scene in which Neo meets Trinity, and they did. So the background actors are just being themselves, pretty much.
Needles don’t frighten Keanu
Reeves agreed to be a human pincushion. In the scene in which Neo is shown with needles sticking out of his body, a prosthetic torso was used. But a professional acupuncturist actually did place needles in Reeves’ head.
The lobby shootout wasn’t digitally altered
The shootout in the government lobby wasn’t faked digitally. Today, the sequence would be shot with heavy use of CGI graphics, but the Wachowskis actually staged everything you see on the set, with explosions and water pouring in. The scene required 10 days of filming.
The cast wore custom-designed shades
The shades were custom-designed. They’re by Richard Walker and his firm Blinde. Walker also designed sunglasses for the title character in 2001’s “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.”
The blockbuster that almost wasn’t
Warner Bros. was reluctant to make the film. The Wachowskis were almost completely unknown at the time, but they eventually persuaded the studio to back them after supplying a 600-page, shot-for-shot storyboard — basically a big comic book — drawn by artists Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce.
Where it all began …
“The Matrix” had humble beginnings. The film had its genesis as the Wachowskis “sat together in a cramped Chicago apartment with a view of a brick wall, casually . . . wondering if there were a reason, or perhaps some law of nature, that might explain why most action movies are idea-less and, conversely, most idea movies remain action-less.”