Uncovering the Truth: The SF Saga Role Brad Pitt Turned Down, Changing Keanu Reeves’ Fate

Brad Pitt could have been Neo in MatrixBut destiny decided otherwise. When the Wachowski sisters asked him to star in their film, the actor refused. Sure, it's hard to see anyone other than Keanu Reeves in the role, but what would have happened if Brad Pitt had said yes? An unanswered question, unfortunately, but we can answer the “why” of his refusal.

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A final refusal

It's not wrong to say that a film partly depends on the performance of its actors, right? And it is just as true to say that they must understand their role in order to be able to fully invest and give the best of themselves. This is why Brad Pitt refused to play Neo in The Matrix. The Hollywood superstar simply had difficulty understanding the character as well as the universe imagined by the Wachowski sisters.

When you think about it, Matrixit’s a truly special and original story. A dystopian future in which robots use humans as fuel via their brain heat and electricity, it's hard enough to imagine. When we add the fact that almost all humans were captured and then placed in machines in order to enter the “Matrix”, it complicates things even more. This film introducing a simulated world was very popular with the general public when it was released in cinemas. The universe is always a great source of inspiration for various works and artists. It is therefore understandable that the American actor had difficulty with the script or even the character of Néo. He declares :

My upbringing means that if I don't understand what it is, then it's not for me. This role was never mine. It was someone else's role -Brad Pitt

On the one hand, we understand that the actor does not wish to do a role in which he is not comfortable, and on the other hand, in which he does not think he has captured the essence, the soul of the character. If he doesn't understand it, he can't interpret it correctly. It is undoubtedly thanks to this approach that the artist was able to interpret so many roles during his long career, even if they were all very different. He adds that he is not sad and has no regrets about his choice.

Anyone else before Keanu Reeves?

Before Keanu Reeves, there was someone else in the heads of the Wachowski sisters. This time it was Will Smith! It was in 2019 that the American actor revealed the information to us. When he met the directors, he reportedly struggled with the ideas for Bullet time or even slow motion. He preferred to be an actor in another film… which floppedunfortunately (for the curious, it is about Wild Wild West). Finally, the actor has no regrets either. According to him, Keanu Reeves was perfect, as was Laurence Fishburne, the actor who plays Morpheus.