Madonna is known to casually drop bombs in interviews over the past few years in a manner that’s all very, “Oh what, you didn’t know?” Namely when she appeared on Howard Stern in 2015 to confirm and discuss how she dated 2Pac in response to the grotesque radio “personality” (somehow still in existence despite racistly mocking Selena, her music and her mourners) asking her about that infamous 1994 interview with David Letterman. You know, the one where she says “fuck” a lot and hands Dave a pair of her panties. Madonna casually replied about her behavior on the show, “I was dating Tupac Shakur at the time, and the thing is he got me all riled up on life in general.” Oh…well, la-di-da.
A similar sort of reveal happened on Madonna’s most recent late night talk show appearance in promotion of her Madame X Tour on Paramount+. Sitting down with Jimmy Fallon to loosely mention the tour in between the usual ribbing that La Ciccone likes to give the white men (and even the Black ones, if Arsenio Hall was any indication) who interview her, there was also a vague attempt at structure when Fallon presented her with a “Myths & Rumors” segment that allowed her to either confirm or deny some “legends” perpetuated by the Hollywood gossip mill. Confirming that, yes, her first “real” job was working at Dunkin’ Donuts before she got too crazy with the jelly squirter (an innuendo she, of course, took pleasure in maximizing), that “Vogue” was originally going to be a B-side and that, yes, she was offered the leads in Batman Returns and Showgirls, Madonna felt obliged to add, “I also turned down the role in The Matrix.” So, apparently, did M’s “nemesis,” Janet Jackson. Even if Gabrielle Union said Jackson simply didn’t get the part, possibly thanks to Union trying to cosplay her for the audition.
While Madonna doesn’t expressly say “the role” was that of Trinity, what else can really be inferred when one uses such a definitive term as “the role”? Plus, as Union also pointed out recently, pretty much every actress was taking a stab at auditioning for Trinity in the late 90s. To further confirm the importance of the part, Madonna added, “Can you believe that? I wanna kill myself. That’s like one of the best movies ever made.” Fallon interjects, “You don’t regret anything.” She counters, “A teeny tiny part of me regrets just that one moment in my life.”
Obviously, there are a legion of The Matrix fans who probably feel differently, if not something like relief that Madonna was too busy concerning herself with making a song and music video to promote for the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Soundtrack in 1999. Even though, sure, production on the The Matrix was happening in ’98, M was still otherwise engaged anyway with all things Ray of Light. Nonetheless, it’s hard not to envision Madonna—so fond of leather and latex when it comes to attire—actually kind of killin’ it in the role of Trinity. Even though, granted, it likely would have infused the project with more camp than intended (think: Lady Gaga’s performance in American Horror Story: Hotel).
What’s more, just like money always seems to be a factor, so, too, is age when considering the “sum of all things” in our capitalist machine. And in 1999—when Hollywood remained at an apex of discrimination on all fronts, including ageism—Carrie-Ann Moss would have been thirty-two (“ancient”) to Madonna’s forty-one. Clearly, the studio and producers were more thrilled to have a younger cast member, even if it wasn’t someone with as big of a name as Madonna. As for Keanu Reeves, he was thirty-five in ’99, therefore making him “too young” for La Regina di Pop…even though M has always been perfectly at home in the arms of a younger man (/boy). Of course, it’s never an issue when a man is “old.” Just look at Daniel Craig in his fifties playing James Bond. But Madonna, being Madonna, likely could have bulldozed through that red tape had she decided to accept the task of appearing passionate about Keanu. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have been a challenge to “appear” that way, being that Madonna had her moments with “vacuous heartthrobs” throughout the 90s, including the likes of Luke Perry (RIP).
The two were documented sharing a kiss onstage at an amfAR ceremony and it took weeks for Madonna to shake the rumor that they were having a fling (not that she really wanted to debunk the hearsay)—even though it was probably preferable to the media insisting she was HIV-positive in the days leading up to her acceptance of the AIDS Research Award of Courage in 1991. Incidentally, Madonna specifically chose Perry to present her with the award, in one of her many bursts of flirtatious energy directed toward “it” boys of the moment. It was there that another immortal kiss prior to the one she would share with Britney Spears was exchanged.
Although less famous in the straight world, model Tony Ward also possessed a certain “meathead aura” similar to Keanu’s (mind you, no one can convey “vacant” quite like 80s and 90s-era Keanu). And so, for that matter, did Vanilla Ice. If one didn’t know any better, it could be said Madonna was trying gradually to work her way through the meathead chain to Reeves, but it never happened. Not in real life or in The Matrix. “Luckily,” one such trapping of the real matrix we currently live in is the deep-fake technology to insert M’s face over Carrie-Anne Moss’ if we really want to see how she would have fared in the iconic latex.
