Nathaniel, who captains one of the ships in the ‘Matrix’ Sequels, is representing his native New Zealand well on set, and from this article taken from the New Zealand based, The Dominion, it seems like they are rooting for him:
NATHANIEL LEES is a goodie in a world of baddie machines. It’s not often you get to save the world, but for more than US$ 3 million (NZ$ 7.3 million), the New Zealand star in the sequels to The Matrix is willing to give it a go.
Lees has spent the past three months in San Francisco on the set of the multimillion-dollar films, directed by the Wachowski brothers, in which he has a leading role alongside Hollywood mega-stars, including Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne.
It is understood that Lees is earning up to US$ 80,000 a week for his role as a captain of one of the spaceships, though he would not talk about how much he was being paid.
Samoan-born Lees, who lives in Thorndon, Wellington, will go to Sydney with the cast and crew next week to continue filming Matrix 2, which is being made back to back with Matrix 3. They are likely to be completed by next June with the release of the second film scheduled for Christmas next year.
Sequels have a reputation for being fizzers, but Lees said Matrix 2 and 3 were destined to wow die-hard fans and create a lot of new ones.
More of the special effects seen in the first film, which have been re-enacted in commercials and television shows, could be expected, with some impressive fights, he said.
Though Lees is a well-established theatre director and actor in New Zealand, having starred in productions such as Hercules, Xena and, more recently, The Lost World alongside Bob Hoskins, Matrix 2 and 3 are his first blockbusters.
And though he admits missing his home and family, working on such a big project has been a lot of fun. As the only Kiwi on the set, he had generated interest about New Zealand, he said.
“They are really interested in finding out where it is and whether everyone was a Once Were Warriors type, but I have done a really good PR job for us.”
(Thanks to ‘Squirk’ and ‘Scooby’)
Be the first to comment