Will Smith as Neo?!?

[shanghairay]

A friend mentioned that Will Smith turned down playing Neo in the matrix, and it was his biggest regret as an actor.

Anyway I went onto IMDb and sure enough it's true. I then watched the matrix, kind of imagining that Will smith was the lead instead of Keanu. I just didn't see it.

Would he have been a good neo? I felt like the lifeless "acting" of Keanu, if you like it or not, was pretty good for the part, and that maybe the movie was "lucky" Will ended up turning it down.
-ray

[NT!]

I'll be the first to say that I don't think the movie would do as well with two black male lead actors. Not in that genre and with that storyline.

Not that it wouldn't be a good movie, because even though I think Will Smith sucks he's better than Keanu Reeves, but purely because of demographic appeal and the willingness of the film's audience to accept a black guy as a Christ figure.

[DonkeyKongSr]

I think just about any actor in Hollywood could have played Neo by dumbing down their acting. Keanu is naturally dumbed down. Keanu definitely didn't make the movie the success it was.

Keanu has been good only in the Bill & Ted series and Point Break.

[Rushmore]

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I think just about any actor in Hollywood could have played Neo by dumbing down their acting. Keanu is naturally dumbed down. Keanu definitely didn't make the movie the success it was.

Keanu has been good only in the Bill & Ted series and Point Break.

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Look, if you guys are going to talk about movies, you simply MUST do better:

River's Edge: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091860/
My Own Private Idaho: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102494/

River's Edge isn't just good--it's freaking great, and Reeves is actually damned good in it.

My Own Private Idaho isn't my favorite movie, but it's watchable, and Reeves actually does some quality acting in it.

I honestly think Keanu Reeves gets a raw deal.

[Daddy Warbucks]

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I'll be the first to say that I don't think the movie would do as well with two black male lead actors. Not in that genre and with that storyline.

Not that it wouldn't be a good movie, because even though I think Will Smith sucks he's better than Keanu Reeves, but purely because of demographic appeal and the willingness of the film's audience to accept a black guy as a Christ figure.

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But Jesus WAS black!

[shanghairay]

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I don't understand the half asian thing though, is keanu half asian?

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um, yes. surprised you didn't know, but i guess if you didn't, most of america doesn't either.

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Though he did pull off Ali pretty well.

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yes he did, but Ali was an outspoken charismatic person, and i was under the impression that neo is pretty much the opposite.

[private joker]

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I don't understand the half asian thing though, is keanu half asian?

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um, yes. surprised you didn't know, but i guess if you didn't, most of america doesn't either.


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Reeves is 1/4 Asian at best. His mother is white, his dad was born in Hawaii, and is half white, half Portuguese/Chinese/Hawaiian. So only his paternal grandmother has any non-white blood, and she's a mix anyway.

If I were Asian, I wouldn't want to lay claim to him anyway. Hahaha.

But seriously -- I think Reeves gets a bum rap. Sure he sucks when he's trying to act with dialogue... and character and words and stuff. But a lot of acting is physical, especially movie acting (he couldn't get away with this crap on a stage), and Reeves' physical capabilities as an action star have been long underrated.

A bulk of the trilogy's great success is due to his performance as Neo, and much of that is really his look: how he runs up walls, shoots guns, does kung fu, and walks around in cool shades and a black trenchcoat. Not a lot of actors can pull that off (no matter how much more talented Phillip Seymour Hoffman is, he would be a total toolbag as Neo), and Reeves did a great job running up walls. He's equally adept in "Speed," a similarly lousy script that nevertheless benefits from him hanging off a speeding bus and jumping over subway trains. When you watch him do that crap, you just somehow suspend your disbelief. He gets paid a ton, and the studios know why. I think a lot of audience members don't -- or at least don't recognize it.

As for Will Smith, I think he's one of the few huge stars who also can manage that kind of physical acting, but his attitude is all wrong. The Wachowskis, as clever as they are, don't have a very good sense of humor and take their trilogy extremely seriously. Will Smith is too sarcastic to be a serious Neo. Sure he's good in his dramatic roles (I liked him in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, etc.) but his smirk is always loaded with a wisecrack waiting to come out.

Men In Black was the right vehicle for Smith. Matrix was the right vehicle for Reeves. That's why all of those movies made a crapload of cash.

[pryor15]

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I think Reeves gets a bum rap. Sure he sucks when he's trying to act with dialogue... and character and words and stuff.

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i just want to say that this cracked me up

i agree with a lot of what you said, this is just priceless

[fuzzwonder]

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But seriously -- I think Reeves gets a bum rap. Sure he sucks when he's trying to act with dialogue... and character and words and stuff. But a lot of acting is physical, especially movie acting (he couldn't get away with this crap on a stage), and Reeves' physical capabilities as an action star have been long underrated.

A bulk of the trilogy's great success is due to his performance as Neo, and much of that is really his look: how he runs up walls, shoots guns, does kung fu, and walks around in cool shades and a black trenchcoat. Not a lot of actors can pull that off (no matter how much more talented Phillip Seymour Hoffman is, he would be a total toolbag as Neo), and Reeves did a great job running up walls. He's equally adept in "Speed," a similarly lousy script that nevertheless benefits from him hanging off a speeding bus and jumping over subway trains. When you watch him do that crap, you just somehow suspend your disbelief. He gets paid a ton, and the studios know why. I think a lot of audience members don't -- or at least don't recognize it.

As for Will Smith, I think he's one of the few huge stars who also can manage that kind of physical acting, but his attitude is all wrong. The Wachowskis, as clever as they are, don't have a very good sense of humor and take their trilogy extremely seriously. Will Smith is too sarcastic to be a serious Neo. Sure he's good in his dramatic roles (I liked him in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, etc.) but his smirk is always loaded with a wisecrack waiting to come out.

Men In Black was the right vehicle for Smith. Matrix was the right vehicle for Reeves. That's why all of those movies made a crapload of cash.

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hold up. you are talking about the guy who played in devils advocate and dracula with out any stunts.
i'm chalking this one up to he has the greatest agent known to man.

[jws43yale]

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I don't understand the half asian thing though, is keanu half asian?

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um, yes. surprised you didn't know, but i guess if you didn't, most of america doesn't either.


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Checks your facts before you start acting all bitter about being asian. He was born to a British mother, his fraternal Grandfather was Irish American, and his fraternal Grandmother was part Asian, Hawaian,and Portugues. So at most he was an eighth Asian. Get a clue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keanu_Reeves.

Also, addressing your earlier comment about how a half Asian isn't a typical Christ figure. Even if he was, and he is not, if the American public thinks he is white then it makes no difference.

Edit: Wow, I will leave this here, but I somehow missed PJ's earlier post.