Laurence Fishburne Says Making THE MATRIX Was Physically Painful

Laurence Fishburne was already a well-respected actor before taking on the role of Morpheus in The Matrix . He received an Academy Award nomination for What’s Love Got to Do With It , and starred in movies like Boyz n the Hood and Apocalypse Now , a film he made when he was just 14 years old. But it was the role of Morpheus that truly turned the esteemed actor into a sci-fi icon. In a recent interview, Fishburne revealed that shooting The Matrix left him in terrible pain, pretty much all the time. Here’s what he told Variety about his experiences making the film at the recent Marrakech Film Festival:

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 a