The Matrix, one of the best action movies, changed filmmaking forever, along with the bodies of the people who made it. Nearly three decades later, Laurence Fishburne is still talking about the brutal training that went into becoming Morpheus. And, if you thought those gravity-defying fights looked intense, the reality behind them was even tougher.
Fishburne spoke at the Marrakech Film Festival (via Variety) about the experience. What started as an ambitious sci-fi action movie experiment quickly turned into a crash course in Hong Kong martial arts filmmaking, and the Matrix cast had no idea what was coming. Here’s how Fishburne described it:
We were essentially the first Western actors to work in the Hong Kong style. And so [martial arts choreographer] Yuen Woo-ping was very concerned that we weren’t going to be able to [pull it off]. So he trained us really hard — training us like professional athletes. And it was in the middle of that training I realized why they pay professional athletes so much money: Because professional athletes are always in pain. Not in pain sometimes — like when you go to the gym and then you’re sore for a day. They’re in pain all the time.
If you’ve ever wondered why the fight sequences in The Matrix still hold up — why they feel so controlled, so sharp, almost balletic — this is why. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne were put through months of non-stop conditioning, flexibility work, choreography drill, and wire training. It wasn’t movie-star “fit.” It was “your body will never forget this” fit. Fishburne added:
It’s all — I mean, it’s still in the body. We each had two trainers, and they worked us really, really hard!
You can feel the mix of pride and pain in that memory. And, in the larger conversation, the Contagion actor explained that he has always been drawn to roles that challenge him — not just physically, but creatively. The man who helped redefine cyber-punk action also gave us Furious Styles in Boyz N the Hood and the chaotic brilliance of Jimmy Jump in King of New York. So reinvention is kind of his thing.
It makes sense, then, that the Wachowskis' 1999 action flick left such a mark on the cast. Reeves, famous for tackling much of his own stunt work, and Fishburne, whose steady calm helped turn Morpheus into an instant icon, both threw themselves into the choreography and conditioning, even when it meant going home sore every single night.
And while The Man of Steel alum didn’t appear in 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections, he hasn’t closed the door on coming back — as long as the story makes sense. With a fifth Matrix film officially on the way (albeit without the Wachowskis at the helm), that possibility suddenly feels a lot more real.
So, yes, The Matrix absolutely put Laurence Fishburne through the wringer. And, yes, he was, by his own admission, in near-constant pain. However, the end product is one of the most enduring action performances in movie history. If anything, the way he speaks about the training now makes it clear: Morpheus isn’t just a character he played. He’s someone Fishburne still carries, not just in his memory, but in his muscles.
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