There are some movies that are just so iconic you can’t imagine them being any other way, or featuring anyone else.
But at the same time, those films are so iconic, you can’t believe any actor would turn down the opportunity to star in them.
And yet, Brad Pitt and Will Smith both turned down a role in possibly one of the most iconic flicks ever, and them starring in it could have changed the entire thing.
No, it wasn’t the cinematic masterpiece Moana, or last year’s Barbie, or even one of the big Marvel smashes – it was actually The Matrix.
Pitt and Smith were both offered the role of Neo. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Joining the likes of Madonna to say no to the 1999 film, both Pitt and Smith shook their heads at the chance to feature in the Wachowski sci-fi action classic.
Although, one of them must have turned it down first, as both said no to playing the legendary role of Neo – eventually filled perfectly by Keanu Reeves, of course.
Back in 2020, Pitt was being honoured with the Maltin Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival when he was asked to share a role he had passed up on.
“I’ll give you one, only one, because I really believe it was never mine,” he said.
The Fight Club star said he ‘did pass’ on the Matrix as he joked, he ‘took the red pill’.
Pitt explained: “I come from a place, maybe it’s my upbringing, [where] if I didn’t get it, then it wasn’t mine. I really believe [the role] was never mine. It was someone else’s.”
Imagine if it had been Pitt or Smith instead. (Warner Bros.)
In 2019, Smith also confirmed the long-running rumour that he’d turned down the opportunity of playing Neo to allow him to take on another role – arguably, a far less major, cult-classic role.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Men in Black actor recalled meeting with the Wachowskis, but couldn’t quite get his head around their ideas for bullet-time, or the slow-motion effect that Neo masters in the movie.
“So I made Wild Wild West [instead],” the star admitted – making a reference to the famed flop from the same year as the Matrix that he has seemingly spent the last two decades regretting.
“I’m not proud of it”, he added.
However, Smith did argue he wouldn’t have been quite as effective as Neo compared to Reeves.
“Keanu was perfect, Laurence Fishburne was perfect, so I probably would have messed The Matrix up. I would have ruined it, so I did y’all a favour,” he said.
