r/movies 2d ago

News Laurence Fishburne Was Turned Down for 'The Matrix Resurrections'

https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/laurence-fishburne-matrix-resurrections-turned-down-1235113237/
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u/MakeThanosGreatAgain 2d ago

Man played Morpheus with such fucking conviction I have to agree. This is something I think about everytime Fishburne delivers those lines to Neo after he passes out from shock.

One of my all time favorite deliveries. It just feels real. So subtle and smooth w it.

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u/PayaV87 2d ago

This, that’s why cults work, because people follow man with a conviction.

And (even if he is right) Morpheus is a cult leader. Fishbourne understood that, and plays such a good leader, that people blindly follow him even to their death.

Weaving understood, that Smith is an outsider inside the system. Never will be part of it, never could leave it. He is trapped like humans do, yet he knows the truth. Weaving also understood this, and every frame he is so snobbish, it oozes gravitas.

Based on this two actors we understand the dinamic of both sides, without them even saying anything. When these two meet, the movie best scenes happen, the literal third act is a Morpheus rescue mission from Agent Smith.

Fishbourne and Weaving make the movie.

They never meet in Matrix 2 or 3 ever again. And those movies are more flat because of this.

They are recasted in Matrix 4. And the movie is complete shit.

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u/straydog1980 1d ago

Commander Lock:
Dammit, Morpheus. Not everyone believes what you believe.

Morpheus:
My beliefs do not require them to.

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u/placebotwo 1d ago

It's why he's great as the Bowrey King too. Not that those were cult members, but he played that part well.

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u/Trymv1 2d ago

Weaving was filming another movie and had to decline the role.

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u/FartingBob 2d ago

Morpheus is 100% convinced in what he is doing and what will happen. That's kind of the entire point of the character. He understood the role and played it with the conviction and belief that the character needed. Fantastic acting.

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u/3rdslip 2d ago

There’s a brilliant line when the councillor asks Commander Lock if there is any chance of surviving the machines and Lock says “I would ask him”

“Why?”

“Because he’s the one who believes in miracles.”

And just the look on Fishburne’s face tells you humanity will make it through.

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u/HopefulTranslator577 2d ago

Fishburne is a lifetime comic book collector and anime fan, he understands the need for a grounding force in a bonkers plot. The man was perfect, and Resurrections was all the lesser without him.

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u/TheSenileTomato 1d ago

Same in Event Horizon.

He played his role as captain with conviction, the moment he says they’re leaving the ship, I was like, “O’ Captain, O’ Captain!”