January 30, 2004
Please Hugo! Not the Face!

Roi (very excitedly and pleased with himself) brought me a copy of December's Maxim magazine because it has an interview with Hugo Weaving that mentions Keanu:

hugomaxim.jpg So we hear that you Australian men are all supposed to be tough. Are you a tough guy?

No, I'm not. [whispers] Don't tell anyone.

No martial arts background?

Not at all. My background for the last 20 years has been that I'm an actor, prepared to jump in and do whatever is necessary for the role, whether that means bulking up or getting frail or getting really fat or whatever.

Any workplace injuries?

We all had our knocks and bruises, but certainly there were a few more serious injuries too. When you get up to take 17 doing the same movement that involves, like, kicking in the ribs, you know, you're all black and blue.
There were times I wanted to go home.

Did you ever "forget" to pull a punch and actually bean Keanu?

Yeah, I hit him in the face every now and then, but he did the same to me. So first there's a little suspicion and then an apology. Keanu Reeves is a gentleman. By the time we got on set, we were pretty careful not to whack each other around too much.

Did you have any idea that The Matrix would explode the way it has?

No one really knew for sure. The more we worked on the first one, the more I felt the Wachowski brothers are wonderful people. They are really intelligent and interesting, funny guys. They conceived it in such detail. The more we worked on it, the more we realized it was pretty extraordinary.

There. Now I can get this magazine back to him and out of my car...

Also, Justin Clark of Screenwriter'sVoice selects "Why, Mister Anderson, Why?" as one of the top 11 scenes of 2003:

#10 - "WHY, MR. ANDERSON, WHY?" FROM "THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS"

BY THE WACHOWSKI BROTHERS

Description: A bloody, broken mess of Neo continues to rise against a seemingly triumphant Smith, prompting the ultimate questioning of Neo's motives.

Why: I can hear the flames in my inbox now. But, I continue to stand by this trilogy. I continue to believe. And I relish the fact that time will smile very fondly upon this trilogy when the clouds of hype and expectation die down. And I offer this scene as solid proof. Granted, this scene is pretty much owned by Hugo Weaving from end to end. But again, what has always kept me rapt and attentive to this trilogy is how the ideas and influences at hand mix together to create something unlike anything American film has seen. What we have here is the bookend to an incredible anime-influenced fight, given human perspective by a rebel computer program who honestly cannot grasp the human propensity to keep fighting, even when there's zero hope for any victory. The Wachowskis ask all the right questions, and give Smith all the right lines to say, but Weaving gives it life: a combination of confusion, pity, and unflinching superiority. Say what you will about the series as a whole, but the Wachowskis have at the very least left cinema history with one of the most interesting villains in history.

Key Elements: A simple response to a big question; Hugo Weaving's gloriously over-the-top final portrayal of Agent Smith.

I certainly agree that "time will smile very fondly upon this trilogy".

red pill | from inside the mind of krix at January 30, 2004 12:10 PM .
Comments

Absolutely!

I got my t-shirt with that very speech on today! I'll be wearing it with pride...

Thanks for the snippets...:)

Posted by: Keanuette on January 30, 2004 01:18 PM

I'm pretty sure Hugo is a very gentle man as well, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten along so fine and I bet Keanu is not tougher than Hugo only a bit more of a perfectionist! I admire all of the cast and have deep respect for them, for what they did - which is a lot more than one would expect from an actor.

Posted by: Niobe on January 30, 2004 01:20 PM

*giggle*
I'm imagening Roi now as a little, enthousiastic kid, all excited, going: 'Look mom, no hands!' :-D

Please thank him from us! :-)

Posted by: Julie! on January 30, 2004 01:46 PM

"Because I choose to." It's about free choice. This has philosophical weight, and it will be recognized one day, in the future. when the affectless critics have moved on to greener, easier, marshmallow pastures.

Posted by: Smit too on January 30, 2004 02:50 PM

Keanuette~I've got that t-shirt, too! I love it. And I love that Smith has this incredibly long speech and Neo's answer to all of it is a simple 4 word sentence. Great, great scene! Oh, man....just thinking about it gets me all revved for the April release. :)

Posted by: r.j.girl on January 30, 2004 03:21 PM

By the end of next year people will be buying the trilogy in droves. The first Matrix movie was a flop at first too, after all...

Then people "got it".

Posted by: Mikey2 on January 30, 2004 04:01 PM

Hey krixy, did you do some photochopping on that lovely pic of Hugo? My brother brought me the Maxim to read this article when I was visiting them over Christmas, and I didn't remember the purple. Of course, I lost about half my brain cells between 1968 and now so...anyway, nice job if you did futz with it!

And I almost bought that t-shirt! But I don't wear t-shirts all that much, just the nice black Keanu one I got from Angelwear...

Anyway, I love the films, especially Revolutions and I don't even care any more if they're ever recognized as being great. Because we know they are.

Posted by: bakednudel on January 30, 2004 05:52 PM

Justin Clark is right about the the Wachoski brothers making their mark on cinematic history. And not JUST Agent Smith, though he's part of the perfection.

I'm revved up too, r.j.girl, but I can't wait until April ... I've GOT to go see it again! I want to do a Matrix weekend and watch all 3!!!

Posted by: sta-cie on January 30, 2004 06:21 PM

Smith is indeed deliciously evil, just as Trinity is bodaciously kick-ass, Morpheus is truly the philosophical believer, and Neo is pure love. in the Matrix movies, i find i never focus on keanu like i do in many of his other movies -- all the characters are so strong, and Neo is never keanu in my eyes. will April ever come??!

Posted by: lori on January 30, 2004 09:19 PM

I didn't add the purple, nudel. a little bit of glow was the only photoshoperry I did.

Put me down for having the shirt as well :)

Posted by: krix on January 30, 2004 10:03 PM

o.k. guys. Where can I buy this t-shirt?

Posted by: heather on January 31, 2004 03:17 AM

heather~
I don't know about the others, but I bought my shirt through e-bay.

Good luck in your search!

Posted by: r.j.girl on January 31, 2004 08:18 AM

Hey, heather...I just popped over to e-bay and found a couple of the shirts, so you could see exactly what they look like.

I tried to post a link here, but couldn't get it to work. Sorry. :(

Posted by: r.j.girl on January 31, 2004 08:31 AM

I watching the first Matrix again yesterday and I had a thought: I want to have evil children, diabolical offspring...ai-yai-yai...you know...introduce his hid-compliant mouse to my usb port...

Hoh, boy. I really need a cold shower.

Posted by: Tabitha on February 1, 2004 10:02 AM

Thanks, r.j.! I'll go take a look...:-)

Posted by: heather on February 2, 2004 04:46 AM
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