Keanu Reeves wasn’t the first choice

‘The Matrix’ wouldn’t be the same without Keanu Reeves’ Neo, but the role came close to several other actors.

In fact, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Johnny Depp was directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski’s first choice, but he turned it down. The part was also offered to Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cage, though they all dismissed the role too.

Famously, Will Smith was offered to be Neo, but he rejected it in favour of ‘Wild Wild West’, which he later admitted was a mistake, and said: “I’m not proud of it”.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who was an executive at Warner Bros., revealed the situation looked dire.

He said: “So many people turned it down, we were getting desperate. We went to Sandra Bullock and said ‘We’ll change Neo to a girl.’

“We sent her the script to see if she was interested but it wasn’t something for her at the time.”

Luckily, Keanu accepted the role, and the rest is history.