Keanu Reeves is one of the world’s most popular actor and has become an unlikely action hero in Hollywood today. However, not many people are aware that he got the lead role in The Matrix after Will Smith refused to do it. 

The actor owes his success to a couple of all-time great action franchises – The Matrix and the John Wick series. However, many of his fans do not know that some other famous Hollywood stars had been offered the role of Neo. 

Today, Reeves is a veteran A-list actor in Hollywood. Films, where he had played the lead role, have made a whopping worldwide collection of $3.8 billion, TheNumbers.com reports. The actor is in the top bracket even today.

He has appeared in three movies in the famous John Wick series since 2014. The series finds him in the role of a retired assassin who is forced to resume his old profession. While his acting career was doing well even before the Wick series, it elevated his position even further. 

Reeves was already a star in the late nineties. He had made appearances in a string of movies by then. The actor came into prominence with the blockbuster film Speed. 

He portrayed the role of a police officer who had to stop a bus fixed with a bomb. The speed of the bus could not fall below 50m/h. 

He had also acted in an action drama called Point Break where his co-star was Patrick Swayze. Reeves was a known actor by this time but he was yet to become a household name. It was the incredible success of The Matrix franchise that eventually elevated his name to the A-list in Hollywood. 

The first movie was a blockbuster and the producers went on to make two sequels to the film. Although the sequels were not as critically successful as the first film, there were also successes at the box office. 

Keanu Reeves became a household name as Neo after he acted in the franchise. The success of this franchise helped him to get other meaty offers. 

However, the role was initially offered to another great actor in Hollywood. Reports have it that Will Smith did not do the role. It seems even Brad Pitt was offered the same role but he turned down the offer. 

Smith is also a veteran and a great actor in Hollywood. Many people would argue that he is a finer actor than Reeves. However, that does not mean that Smith would have performed better in the role of Neo. 

Finally, Keanu Reeves was fortunate that Will Smith turned down the offer to play the role of Neo. The box office success of the Matrix changed the career graph of Reeves forever, Showbiz Cheat Sheet reports