Fellow finalists Jada Pinkett Smith and Carrie-Anne Moss would go on to star in the blockbuster franchise.
Salma Hayekalmost plugged intoThe Matrixtwo decades ago.
“We were one of the four finalists forThe Matrix,” she recalls.
Salma Hayek auditioned for the role of Trinity in ‘The Matrix,’ which eventually went to Carrie-Anne Moss.Todd Williamson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images; Everett Collection
“We’d jumped through many hurdles, screen testing, and many auditions.
They brought these stunt coordinators from Asia.
It was the physical test.
I’m flexible and agile, but I’m lazy.”
I go, ‘To where?’
I couldn’t even go around the room once.
Here comes Jada, a mean, lean, sexy machine!
She was so good!
It was so embarrassing!
She was so fit, she was so focused, she was so disciplined.
She was so capable.
She was so gracious.
Both Hayek and Pinkett Smith agree that Moss was the right person for the job.
“I always tell Carrie-Ann that she was perfect for that one,” Pinkett Smith says.
“I knew it would be revolutionary,” she recalled.
“I was like, ‘Will, you’ve got to do this movie!’
He didn’t fully get it, but I did.”
And that’s the only time in my career I’ve said that about losing a role."
Watch a preview of Hayek onRed Table Talkabove.
