As The Matrix brings to light, oftentimes the line between reality and fantasy can become blurred these days. In terms of filmmaking, that’s especially true when it comes to high-flying stunts. Of course, when the audience is watching the movie, the goal is for us to be fully immersed in the experience, but with practical filmmaking being less popular these days, it’s important to highlight when it does happen. SO for those who didn’t know, in The Matrix: Resurrections, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss straight up jumped off a building.
In a memorable scene in the 2021 Matrix sequel, Neo and Trinity jump off a skyscraper hand-in-hand. The two actors were on wires attached to a rig over 550 feet above ground for the cinematic moment. According to one of the SFX supervisors, J.D. Schwalm, the big “nerve-wracking” stunt almost didn’t happen. In his words:
We filmed the jump in the morning as the last shot of the day after filming all night. But the evening of [the jump], we got word that we were not gonna do it. The studio and the insurance company and whatnot wasn’t going to allow the actors to get on the rig. It was down to the wire and ultimately somebody showed up, gave the green light and it happened that day. It was pretty intense.
While speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, The Matrix Resurrections crew member shared that the big moment almost didn’t happen due to it perhaps being too dangerous for the actors. As you can imagine, there are a lot of factors involved on movie sets, and if one thing went wrong and Reeves and Moss ended up falling off the rig, it’d be a tragedy and publicity nightmare for all involved.
Lana Wachowski, who directed and co-wrote Resurrections after helming the original 1999 classic with her sister Lilly, shared in a Matrix bonus feature that she wanted the moment between Neo and Trinity to feel “completely real.” With the production team, they crafted a way to have the Matrix stars jump from a 43-story skyscraper in San Francisco. Check out how it was done:
The stunt required a month of training from the team and some serious bravery from Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who were attached with wires onto the rig before literally jumping off the building and being suspended in the air, as you see in the movie. Wachowski recalled the scene being “pure cinema magic” in execution – thankfully the cast and crew were able to safely pull it off.
The Matrix Resurrections came out in December to mixed reactions overall and dealt with competition of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which has since become an over $1 billion hit. You can relive the big stunt on digital now or wait for the Blu-ray and DVD release on March 8. You can also stream the original Matrix trilogy with an HBO Max subscription.