Gina Gershon Thought She Would Star as Trinity in ‘The Matrix' After ‘Bound': ‘I Still See Myself in That Part'

You can add Gina Gershon and "The Matrix" to your list of cinema's all-time worst missed connections.

During a recent interview for the Criterion Collection's DVD re-release of Lilly and Lana Wachowskis' debut feature "Bound," Gershon told IndieWire that she was still bothered by the fact that she was not asked by her former directors to star opposite Keanu Reeves in their sci-fi masterpiece about a robot apocalypse from 1999.

"It's hard, because I really wanted to play that part, and I thought I was going to, and then they ended up casting Carrie-Anne [Moss]. So I don't think I could be completely objective," Gershon said. "I still see myself in that part. Listen, she did a wonderful job, and I think I understand why they cast her, but I always thought I was going to play Trinity."

The topic came up in a roundabout way when the actress was asked if she had seen Moss make her triumphant return to the rebooted "Matrix Resurrections" in 2021. That's a female-forward pseudo-sequel that champions many of the same themes as "Bound" and even includes an Easter egg paying homage to Gershon's character Corky and her legendary labrys tattoo. (In this version of the "Matrix Resurrections" trailer, you can spot the massage parlor named after film's favorite lesbian plumber in the right-side background at the 47-second mark.)

Whether Gershon was ever seriously considered for a part in "The Matrix" isn't clear, but the casting certainly makes sense as a matter of timing and tone. "Bound" arrived in theaters just a few years before "The Matrix," and although the girl-on-girl crime thriller was a flop at the box office, it was forged with the same visceral love of action and noir that catapulted the story of Neo to instant franchised success.

(Left to right): Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly in "Bound"; Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix" Courtesy Everett Collection

Both movies became hits in the end, but Gershon wasn't sure if she'd seen "Resurrections" or not, explaining, "There's periods of time where I just blank out, I don't see anything. I will re-see it again because I don't remember that." As for "Bound," that's one Gershon can't ever turn off.

"Every time I watch the movie, I really forget that I'm in it," she said. "It's just technically so beautifully made. They're incredible directors, which I always knew from the first moment I met them. I got that tingly feeling in my stomach going, ‘Oh my God, these are really great directors.'"

Check out IndieWire's full interview with Gina Gershon celebrating "Bound," available as a new DVD rerelease through The Criterion Collection.

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