Throughout the history of Hollywood, there are countless tales of "what might have been." Actors who were considered for iconic roles only to turn them down, leaving another actor free to step in and make the role their own. At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he received the Leonard Maltin Modern Master Award, Brad Pitt was asked to name a role he had passed on. Although initially reluctant to do so, Pitt revealed that he had passed on THE MATRIX.
I did pass on The Matrix. I took the red pill. That’s the only one I’m naming… I wasn’t offered two or three. Only the first one. Just to clarify that. I come from a place, maybe it’s my upbringing, if I didn’t get it, then it wasn’t mine. I really believe [the role] was never mine. It’s not mine. It was someone else’s and they go and make it. I really do believe in that. If we were doing a show on the great movies I’ve passed on, we would need two nights.
While Brad Pitt didn't specify which role in THE MATRIX he was up for, it was revealed last year that Pitt was one of several actors considered for the role of Neo, which ultimately went to Keanu Reeves. After all these years, it's hard to imagine anyone other than Reeves playing Neo, and as talented as Brad Pitt is, I don't think the role would have worked quite as well in his hands.
Speaking of THE MATRIX, the franchise is set to return for a fourth installment which will find both Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reprising their roles of Neo and Trinity. Lana Wachowski is returning to direct the sequel, as well as co-writing the script alongside Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. In addition to Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, the cast of THE MATRIX 4 includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (AQUAMAN), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist), Neil Patrick Harris (GONE GIRL), and Jada Pinkett Smith (ANGEL HAS FALLEN), who will be reprising the role of Niobe, which she played in THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS. It's also been said that Sense8 actors Eréndira Ibarra and Toby Onwumere will be joining up, as well as Mindhunter's Jonathan Groff. One person who won't be back, at least at this point, is Hugo Weaving, who played Agent Smith in the original trilogy. Production on the sequel is expected to kick off this year, and Keanu Reeves has teased that he's read that script for THE MATRIX 4 and that "It's very ambitious. As it should be!"
THE MATRIX 4 is slated for a May 21, 2021 release.