Related
AfterWill Smith disdain the luck to take on NeoinThe Matrix , the part went to Keanu Reeves , setting both stars on different path to future success . While Keanu Reeves ' carrying out was iconic in every signified and dead match the film ’s neo - mediaeval esthetic , it ’s toilsome not to wonder how Will Smith ’s take would have transfer the entireMatrixseries . With Will Smith ’s affair as Neo , The Matrixwould definitely not be the same . However , considering how he has given some extremely memorable public presentation in other sci - fi action mechanism flick likeI Am LegendandMen in Black , The Matrixwould still possibly be as spectacular as it is today .
Set in a dystopian future , The Matrixfocuses on a computer hacker Neo who discovers that life , as he knows it , is a simple simulation created by evil cyber - intelligence agency . Determined to untangle his true identity element , he joins military group withMorpheus ( Laurence Fishburne ) and Trinity ( Carrie - Anne Moss)to battle a cell of ruthlessly intelligent secret agents . With breathtaking action scenes and distinctive performances , The Matrixoffers a wrench on the traditional " select one " trope whilst subtly tackling theme surrounding human identity , realism , and memory .
Undoubtedly , regardless of the film ’s roll , the Wachowskis ' hoity-toity originative vision would have still exit its mark in movie house . But , oddly enough , it ’s the same ambitious visual sense that eventually extend to their alone casting choices . As unwrap by Will Smith ( viaYoutube ) , he could n’t see eye - to - eye with the Wachowskis ' idea for the plastic film and had a toilsome clock time wrapping his heading around its book . At the same clip though , he went on to call them geniuses and drearily acknowledged that he would have " messed The Matrix up . " Whether he ’s correct about it will never be known , but it ’s interesting to speculate howWill Smith as Neo inThe Matrixwould have forked the course of many histrion and movies in a wholly different guidance .
Laurence Fishburne Wouldn’t Be Morpheus
In his YouTube video , Will Smith excuse that if he agreed to play Neo , the role of Morpheus would not go to a blackened actor . He further add that Val Kilmer was being considered to play Morpheus alongside his version of Neo . Reportedly , Russell Crowe was once approached for the character of Morpheus , but he turned it down ( viaTwitter ) . What is interesting about these early cast determination — and their eventual loser — is that not only would they have completely changedNeo and Morpheus ' scintillating dynamicbut would have also alteredThe Matrix ’s comprehend representation of race .
Laurence Fishburne ’s Morpheus serves as a stoical guiding force for Neo and leads him in the right direction to help oneself humanity crush an tyrannous dystopian world . Along with Morpheus , other foundational character in the motion picture ’s overarching premiss , like the Oracle and the natives of Zion , are also black . Owing to these casting choices , The Matrixis often proclaim for its Afro - futurism symbolism ( viaTwitter ) . If Morpheus ' function had survive to any of the other alternate thespian , the coarse perception wall his desperate representation of race would n’t be the same .
The John Wick Series Wouldn’t Exist
It ’s telling how despite being connected with some of the most noted action at law dealership likeSpeedandThe Matrix , Keanu Reeves has capture the meld consciousnessof filmgoers with a whole young legal action character reference — John Wick . Putting the actor ’s physical prowess and acting chop on full exhibit , theJohn Wickseries is still going strong after three instalment and is not await to slow down withJohn Wick 4 . However , as the butterfly stroke result would have it , theJohn Wickseries might not have existed if Will Smith had make for Neo alternatively of Keanu Reeves .
A fascinating trivia surroundingJohn Wickis that the film ’s director , Chad Stahelski , and Keanu Reeves first get together on the set ofThe Matrixwhere Stahelski was Reeves ' stuntman . It ’s this calamitous encounter between the two that later promoted their originative partnership from stunt to create the blockbusterJohn Wickfranchise . Considering thatJohn Wick ’s history snuff it way backto the belated ninety , it is quite potential that the franchise would not be where it is today and may not have even seen the lighter of the sidereal day ifThe Matrixhad not introduced Stahelski to Keanu Reeves .
Will Smith’s Career Trajectory Would Be Very Different
If one film can make or break an player ’s career , a single film can also move an actor ’s career in a whole novel way . Something exchangeable fall out to Will Smith ’s acting career in the belated 90 . After the success ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel - Air , Will Smith was on a bun with blockbusters likeBad BoysandIndependence Day . As Will Smith himself call in in his YouTube television , " however I threw the ball , it was blend in in . " But after a spell of success with explosive action flicks , Smith decide to turn down playingJay inMen in Blackbecause he did not want to be the stereotyped " alien bozo " in every movie . Only when Steven Speilberg convinced him to take up the part did Will Smith change his head .
Men in Blackwas yet another smash hit that soared Will Smith ’s vocation flight to new pinnacle . Unfortunately , soon after , his bar last up in flaming withWild Wild West , which he took up after reject the role inThe Matrix . This major roadblock in his act timeline was ostensibly a blessing in camouflage as it gave him a better position on the form of projects he should take in the future . intimately explicate by Will Smith himself , he regrettably rememberedWild Wild Westat a Cannes Lions seance and said ( viaTHC ): " I had so much success that I started to taste ball-shaped ancestry , and my focus shifted from my artistry to win . " Not to mention , dally Neo also would have further stemmedWill Smith ’s identity as an legal action hero(or the typical sci - fi " alien guy cable " ) , which , in turn , may not have land him versatile function in comparatively serious biopics likeAli , The Pursuit of Happyness , Concussion , andKing Richard .
Would Will Smith Still Win An Oscar?
Before winning an Oscar for Best Actor for his lead carrying out inKing Richard , Will Smith was nominated doubly for the same forAliandThe Pursuit of Happyness . Unsurprisingly , all three of his Oscar - nominated celluloid are biopics , which go to show that he would believably never get an Oscar nomination — let alone a win — if he had confined his act calling to the action genre . The consequential decisions of peck purpose and the wane and menstruation of his career have made him the well - rounded actor that he is today . WhileWill Smith ’s Oscar winmay be up for argumentation after his late controversies , it can not be denied that his one decision to not act Neo has played out just hunky-dory for him and others involved inThe Matrix .
MORE : What If Will Smith Played Django In Tarantino ’s Django : Unchained
