By Erin Free
What Happened? Tearing onto screens in 1999, The Matrix – written and directed by second-timers, Andy and Larry Wachowski (Bound) – instantly announced itself as a groundbreaking sci-fi classic to rival the likes of The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. Bustling and heaving with ideas, the film’s cyberpunk-infused dystopic vision of a society enslaved by technology truly brought the genre into the digital age. Though its bold concepts are now part of the sci-fi firmament, The Matrix was, for its time, an extraordinarily forward-thinking project. The Wachowskis’ first film, Bound, was a low budget thriller, and gave little indication of what they would ultimately achieve with their eye-popping follow-up. As such, The Matrix was a tough sell, and it’s a testament to the trust and foresight of actor, Keanu Reeves, who riskily signed on to play the lead role of everyman turned messianic hero, Neo. The film’s mind-warping qualities had proved too much for Will Smith, however, who had been the Wachowskis’ first choice to play Neo. In one of the worst decisions in cinema history, he opted to do the disastrous Wild Wild West instead. “The Matrix is a difficult concept to pitch,” the actor told Wired. “I just didn’t see it. I watched Keanu’s performance – and very rarely do I say this – but I would have absolutely messed up The Matrix. At that point, I wasn’t smart enough as an actor to let the movie be, whereas Keanu was smart enough to just let it be. Let the movie and the director tell the story, and don’t try and perform every moment.”
Would It Have Worked? Definitely. Though Will Smith might not have understood the pitch, one can safely assume that the Wachowskis would have clued him in sufficiently by the time of shooting, while the actor’s charisma, physicality, and affinity for action cinema would have stood him in very good stead to play Neo.
