If you’re reading this article, it means you have access to the Internet, and if you have access to the Internet, there’s a good chance you heard that, for better or worse, a new Matrix movie is in the works. I already used my, “The Matrixsequels don’t exist,” in another article, so let’s just say I didn’t like them, at all.
While some of you may know that Will Smith famously turned down the role of Neo due to the Wachowski sibling not making a very good pitch, or so Smith says, anyway as the story goes he turned down the chance to play Neo and decided to do Wild Wild West. Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith says she tried to persuade her husband to take the role in the Matrix, the actress spoke with Entertainment Weekly on the subject and you can check out what she had to say below.
“I knew it would be revolutionary. I was like, ‘Will, you’ve got to do this movie!’ He didn’t fully get it, but I did.”
There’s a video you can find online where Smith explains the pitch he received from the Wachowskis, and if that’s really the pitch he was given, you can’t really blame him for not taking the role. It turns out Pinkett-Smith auditioned for the role of Trinity, which eventually went to Carrie-Anne Moss. As she explains below, she feels the part went to the person it best suited.
“I thought Carrie-Anne was the perfect Trinity, and there was no way I could do what she did. And that’s the only time in my career I’ve said that about losing a role.”
Though as most of us know Pinkett-Smith was part of the sequels, which really seems like the short end of the stick, I mean, that’s like being in The Godfather III. As with most iconic roles, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the part, once it’s been logged into our brains, it’s there.
Would you have taken the role of Neo? Let us know in the comments down below!
