‘The Matrix’: Laurence Fishburne Felt He Was Destined to be Morpheus After Lana Wachowski’s Dream About Him

Actor Laurence Fishburne paired up with Keanu Reeves in the hit sci-fi film The Matrix. He won the praise of many for his performance as Neo’s mentor Morpheus, a character he played through the entire trilogy’s run. But to Fishburne, him becoming Morpheus wasn’t just luck, it was destiny. And he considered a premonition Lana Wachowski had about him in a dream as evidence of this idea.

Laurence Fishburne thought ‘The Matrix’ was the most original thing he ever read

Fishburne was almost immediately on board for The Matrix when the Wachowskis explained the film to him. In an interview with Vulture, Fishburne confided that the script had all of the elements he found intriguing in a story.

“I thought this was the most original thing I’ve ever read, and I can’t wait to do it. Because I’m a science-fiction head anyway, so I never had any questions about whether or not it worked structurally, thematically, or anything on the page,” Fishburne said. “There were no red flags on the page for me at all, and then when I met Lana and Lilly, they said they wanted to make a live-action anime. I was like, ‘Yes, please.’ I got it. I totally got it.”

To the What’s Love Got to Do With It star, Morpheus was like several iconic roles and celebrities rolled into one.

“What I get with him is I’ve got Darth Vader in this hand, and I’ve got Obi-Wan in that hand. I’ve got Bruce Lee, I’ve got Muhammad Ali shuffled in there, and I got kung fu. It’s pretty good. People confuse me with Morpheus. They think I am Morpheus. I am not Morpheus. I’m not even close,” he said.

Laurence Fishburne thought he was destined to play Morpheus because of a dream Lana Wachowski had about him

Fishburne was convinced Morpheus was his role to take. That’s mostly because he felt it was his destiny to play the role. In an interview with Black Film, Fishburne revealed it was Lana Wachowski’s dream about him that led him to that theory.

“I was at the bite fight between Evander and Tyson in Las Vegas and I see The Wachowski [Sisters]; they have their very introverted shy guys thing,” Fishburne said. “Cut to we’re working and doing a movie and at the end they presented me with a gift of a beautiful rendering of Neo and Morpheus in the Dojo fighting with a couple of photographs. On the back [Lana Wachowski] wrote, ‘I had a dream about a man who wore mirrored sunglasses and spoke in riddles and when I met you and heard your voice I knew that you were that guy.’”

This dream was one of Wachowski’s primary reasons for hiring Fishburne.

“So [she] had heard my voice in [her] head. So that’s the deal,” he elaborated.

Why Laurnece Fishburne wasn’t in ‘Matrix Resurrections’

Fishburne’s absence from the fourth Matrix movie has a fairly easy explanation behind it. According to the former Morpheus himself, he just wasn’t asked to return.

“I have not been invited. Maybe that will make me write another play. I’m looking for the blessing in that. I wish them well. I hope it’s great,” he said.

Still, however, Fishburne was looking forward to the anticipated sequel regardless of his involvement.

“I am very excited to see what it will be,” he said on Jon interviews. “Because I’m a fan of those movies, I’m not just in them. I was a fan of those movies, too. So I’m excited.”