History Trivia / TheMatrix

* CaliforniaDoubling: In the scene in which Neo says "I used to eat lunch there. Good noodles", the car is clearly driving through the Chinatown end of George Street in UsefulNotes/{{Sydney}}'s CBD. Of course, you also see the Sydney Tower and the Maritime Services Board control tower on the city's skyline.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/CarrieAnneMoss, who was almost completely unknown before she became Trinity. Creator/HugoWeaving, meanwhile, went from semi-obscure straight into the mainstream after this movie. For Creator/KeanuReeves, however, this was more of a [[TypeCasting Type-Cementing Role]].

* ActingInTheDark:
** The live-action cut scenes for ''VideoGame/EnterTheMatrix'' were shot simultaneously with the sequels. It got to the point where the actors didn't know whether they were shooting scenes for the movies or the video game.

* EditedForSyndication: Basic cable cuts of the film frequently substitute "Shucks" or "Smokes" for "Shit," and change Neo's line in the interrogation room scene to "How about I give you a flipper?", while completely cutting the actual [[FlippingTheBird middle finger]] (and, by consequence, the "You give me my phone call" part of the line). Also "Jeepers creepers (originally "Jesus Christ"), that thing’s ''real''?!"

* ThrowItIn: After the lobby shootout, the camera pans back showing the aftermath of the gunfight in the lobby. During this, a piece of one of the pillars falls off. This happened by coincidence during the filming and was not planned, but was left since it seemed appropriate.

*** At the film's 20th anniversary, Yeoh revealed she was also offered ''Neo'', with the Wachowskis being willing to make the character female if it meant getting a big star.

* WordOfGod:
** Creator/TheWachowskis have stated that Cypher hacked into the Matrix on his own without the help of the ''Nebuchadnezzar'' crew. [[spoiler:This explains how he could have arranged a meeting with the Agents.]]

** After Creator/TheWachowskis [[https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53692435 confirmed in 2020]] that the film was at least partly an allegory for their real-life experiences as trans women, Creator/KeanuReeves stated in a ''Variety'' interview that he was not aware of this intention when the film was produced, with this having been one of multiple compromises the sisters had to make at the time.

** Lilly Wachowski has [[https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lilly-wachowski-confirms-matrix-series-transgender-allegory-n1235927?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma confirmed]] that the series is a transgender allegory.

** Australian Creator/HugoWeaving puts on a fake American accent.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://matrix.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The Matrix Wiki]].

!!This film series has [[TropeNamers named the following tropes]]:[[note]]All of these come from the original 1999 film.[[/note]]
* AGlitchInTheMatrix
* MatrixRainingCode
* RedPillBluePill
* ResidualSelfImage
* YourMindMakesItReal

* DoingItForTheArt: While watching the "Lady in the Red Dress" scene, you might notice the same people are passing Neo and Morpheus more than once. Production goof? Nope! All the extras in the scene are ''actual twins''. The Wachowskis cast several sets of identical twins from UsefulNotes/{{Sydney}} as extras to create the impression that Mouse got so lazy while writing the Agent Training Program that [[YouAllLookFamiliar he made half the crowd, then copy-pasted the models and gave the copies new clothes]], instead of making unique ones. Did you notice that... or were you [[DistractedByTheSexy looking at the woman in the red dress?]]

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/TheWachowskis cast Creator/HugoWeaving after seeing him in ''Proof''. They cast Creator/MonicaBellucci after seeing her in ''Film/{{Malena}}''.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Dropping the original idea of HumanResources being a vast neural net for the more literal concept of human Duracell batteries because ViewersAreMorons. Given all the other stuff that has to be explained (or not) in this trilogy, one wonders why this idea was so difficult to put across.

** SupernaturallyValidatedTransPerson: Switch was originally planned to appear as a man in the real world, but a woman in the Matrix itself (to the point of being portrayed by two different actors in each), implying some sort of gender identity gulf and raising questions on what was their real form. The final film largely cut this subplot out in favour of an androgynous appearance (and there's a ShrugOfGod on whether it's still canon), but [[spoiler:their final words]] "No, not like this!" certainly harken back to it.

* NamesTheSame: Cypher (no relation to the ComicBook/NewMutants character), Link (no relation to the protagonist of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''), Morpheus (named after the [[Characters/ClassicalMythologyMinorDeities mythological figure]] related to dreams, not to be confused with the protagonist of Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman''), and The Matrix (the name for another virtual reality WetwareCPU in ''Series/DoctorWho'' and cyberspace in Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'').

** An oddly specific example: armorer John Bowring hated Creator/TheWachowskis' choice of the [[RareGuns Desert]] [[HandCannon Eagle]] as the weapons of the Agents, deriding it as a "wanker's gun".

* McLeaned: Tank is said to have died in between films due to Marcus Chong falling out with Creator/TheWachowskis.

* NamesTheSame: Cypher (no relation to the ComicBook/NewMutants character), Link (no relation to the protagonist of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''), Morpheus (named after the [[Characters/ClassicalMythologyMinorDeities mythological figure]] related to dreams, not to be confused with the protagonist of Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman''), and The Matrix (the name for cyberspace in Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'').