Nobody was sure what to make of The Matrix before first came out. The technology based action movie was not exactly the first thing you would expect to see in 90s and that too from Keanu Reeves,who was not a star in that time, although he turned out to be perfect and most fitted for the role, over the years we’ve learned that a major reason that Reeves ended up in the unlikely because everybody else said no.
The famous Hollywood superstar Will Smith have spoken in detail about how he made the wrong call choosing Wild Wild West rather than the matrix. However, Smith was not the only hollywood star who was offered this role. Few day earlier, in an interview with film historian and critic Leonard Maltin, Brad Pitt confirmed that he was also offered a role in The Matrix, but he ended up saying no.
He did pass on The Matrix. He took the red pill. That’s the only one he’s naming. He wasn’t offered two or three. Only the first one. Just to clarify that. He said he come from a place, maybe it’s his upbringing, if he didn’t get it, then it wasn’t his. He really believe that role was not meant to be his, he couldn’t imagine himself in that role. It’s not mine. It belongs to someone else’s and they go and make it. He really do believe in that. If we were doing a tv show on the great movies I’ve passing on, we would definitely need two nights or may be more; he said (Brad Pitt).
While Brad Pitt did not specifically said that he turned down the main lead role of Neo, also it’s been previously reported that Pitt was also considered for that part. Although, the interview at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival may be the very first time brad Pitt have confirmed that he was offered the role, and that he was the person that said no in the last.
Also According to a report by Mail Online a reputed source information, after Brad Pitt have rejected the offer to be in the cast of The Matrix, the role of ‘Neo’ was offered to Will Smith and many good known actors like Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer, Johnny depp , Leonardo DiCaprio. There was also a time when the directors and producers thought the role of Neo could also be a woman and so they approached Sandra Bullock for the role; Lastly, it was Keanu Reeves who agreed to play and yes , today when we watch the trilogy it gives a very strong feeling that no one would have pulled it off the way Keanu has done it, it’s truly magnificent and brilliantly done.