The Matrix Nearly Starred Will Smith — And 5 Other Things You Need To Know

That Bullet-Dodging Shot? It Took 120 Cameras To Fake ONE Second Of Footage

The rooftop scene where Neo bends backward to avoid gunfire wasn't slow motion at all — it was a custom-built circular rig of still cameras, each firing off a single frame that was later stitched together to fake a moving camera. VFX supervisor John Gaeta has said his artistic inspiration actually came from anime and music videos, not other action movies.

Keanu Trained For Months In A Neck Brace — And Told No One He Was Injured

Reeves signed on knowing he'd need four months of Hong Kong-style martial arts and wire training, but he didn't mention he was quietly dealing with a serious spinal issue at the time. He later said the two franchises he's known for demanded completely different skill sets, describing the original film's prep simply as wire work and kung fu, done for months on end.

Will Smith Turned Down Neo — Then Watched Keanu Become A Legend Instead

Before Reeves ever put on the sunglasses, the Wachowskis offered the role of Neo to Will Smith, who passed on it to make Wild Wild West instead. Smith has since admitted the swap probably saved the movie, joking that he "would have ruined it," and revealing Val Kilmer was in talks to play Morpheus opposite him.

Warner Bros. Almost Passed On This Movie — Until The Wachowskis Showed Up With A Comic Book

Studio executives reportedly couldn't visualize the script no matter how many drafts they read, so the Wachowskis commissioned comic artists to turn the entire film into a nearly 600-page illustrated storyboard. It worked — Lilly Wachowski recalled executives leaving that meeting admitting they'd bought something cool without fully understanding what it was.

Those Iconic Sunglasses Weren't Just For Style

Beyond looking effortlessly cool, the shades served a real storytelling function, visually separating characters who know they're inside a simulation from those who don't. There was a practical side too: when the effects team later captured actors' faces for CG work, bright studio lighting made squinting an issue, and sunglasses became part of the visual reference on set.

The Green Matrix Code Is Secretly Made Of Sushi Recipes

Designer Simon Whiteley created the film's famous cascading digital rain by scanning katakana characters straight out of his wife's Japanese cookbooks. He's said outright that the code is built from sushi recipes, hand-drawn and stylized until they became one of the most recognizable visuals in movie history.