Laurence Fishburne hasn't seen Will Smith play Neo in the “Matrix”-inspired music video for Smith’s single “Beautiful Scars” with rapper Big Sean.

In any case, Smith and Kilmer aren’t the only casting near-misses from those early production days, when the many now-iconic elements of The Matrix were still mere matters of conjecture.

Laurence Fishburne hasn’t seen Will Smith play Neo in the “Matrix”-inspired music video for Smith’s single “Beautiful Scars” with rapper Big Sean.

1. Neo (Film: The Matrix) Almost Played By: Will Smith Ultimately Played By: Keanu Reeves It's hard to imagine anyone but Keanu Reeves as the stoic, leather-clad savior Neo, but the role was ...

"And now that I think about it, it’s those movies that go into those alternate realities; they don’t pitch well." Smith also called his decision to pass on The Matrix, a role in which Keanu ...

Laurence Fishburne hasn’t seen Will Smith play Neo in the “Matrix”-inspired music video for Smith’s single “Beautiful Scars” with rapper Big Sean.