This is it, from Will Smith himself. He tells us all why he turned down The Matrix. It’s an interesting story and says a lot.
The question is, would the movie have been as successful with Will Smith in the lead role? Would it have been less successful? What would have been different about it? The same? Would the sequels have been any different?
So it turns out that Will Smith, having just done the films Independence Day and Men in Black and Bad Boys, had worked with some directors that had a proven track record. At the time the Wachowski Brothers had directed one movie, and the pitch that Will Smith had been given didn’t seem to do the film justice. So they went to Keanu from here.
Another question comes to mind, regarding Lawrence Fishburne versus Val Kilmer for the role of Morpheus. Would they have gone with Val Kilmer for the role, had they cast Will Smith? Or would Lawrence Fishburne continued in the role of Morpheus as we know it? I don’t see a problem with Fishburne in the role next to Will Smith’s Neo. I think it would have been really cool.