Did you know Will Smith turned down an offer to play Neo in 'The Matrix'? Know why

The Matrix is one of the iconic films which changed the way people looked at hi-speed action sequences backed with some amazing visual effects. The Hollywood action-sci-fi flick made Keanu Reeves an overnight star and a household name. The dapper actor played the lead role in the Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski's film as Neo. But do you know Keanu Reeves was not the first choice of the makers for Neo's role? In fact, it was none other than Men In Black star Will Smith, who was first offered the role of Neo in the 1999 blockbuster film.

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Will Smith explains why he turned down The Matrix 

Will Smith runs his own youtube channel which has over 8.53million subscribers. In one of his “Story Time” segment videos, the Pursuit of Happiness actor shared some unheard details about he chose to reject Neo's role in the ground-breaking movie The Matrix.  At the very start of the video, Will Smith admits turning down playing Neo in the 1999 movie. He then says that he is not in any manner proud of his decision.

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As the video commences, Will Smith talked about his concerns featuring in "Alien-Movies". The I, Robot actor then switches to the very incident which made him turn down The Matrix movie offer. Smith, while reminiscing about the script reading session, shed light on the fact how unconvincingly Wachowskis the writers/ directors of the film explained an action sequence to him. Basically, the pitch for the action flick was done in a confusing fashion which made Will Smith find the concept of The Matrix a bit unrealistic. 

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Thus, it was the nonplus movie script and the unrealistic description of Neo's character which refrained him to work with the director duo.  Will Smith, in his youtube video, also mentioned about his unsuccessful film Wild Wild West, which he opted for instead of The Matrix. Wild Wild West tanked miserably at the box-office whereas The Matrix did magnanimous business in terms of Box-Office collection. The Bad Boyz actor later went to shower praises on Keanu, who played Neo and said that he was the perfect choice for the movie and is glad that he turned down The Matrix or else he would have 'ruined it'.