Carrie-Anne Moss landed the biggest role of her career when she was cast in 1999 sci-fi juggernaut The Matrix – which is just as well considering she had just turned down “a substantial amount of money” for a job shortly before.
The Canadian actor, 59, has revealed that she rejected a role earlier on in her career after she was asked to “dress sexier” for the audition.
In a new interview, Moss – who played computer programmer Trinity in The Matrix franchise – said that she turned to meditation to help her “cope with all the rejection” that came with acting but it also gave her the strength to turn down “a substantial amount of money” for that role, having been told to “dress sexier” for it.
She told The Telegraph that she was fed up of those requests after appearing in Models Inc – a soap opera spin-off of Melrose Place that focused on an LA-based modelling agency.
“I was playing a character who was taken advantage of all the time,” she said. “I barely remember because she was making out with this guy [then] making out with that guy all the time. I have blocked it out!
“Shortly after I passed on that ‘dress sexier’ role, I got the part of Trinity in The Matrix.”
After The Matrix in 1999, Moss starred in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, romance film Chocolat and Marvel series Jessica Jones as well as three further Matrix films.
Although her star was on the rise, Moss took “a big, big break” to raise her three children (Owen, 23, Kaden, 20, and Frances, 17) with husband, actor Steven Roy, who she married in 1999.
Speaking to The Independent last year, Moss said: “I remember being torn, having a little twinge like ‘Gosh, I’m getting offered such great things. That would be such a huge deal.’ And I was holding my baby in my arms, and I remember thinking, ‘At the end of my life, will it matter to me that I have another movie on my résumé? Or will it matter to me that I held my baby?’
“And I instantly thought, no. It was just a no-brainer. And I’m so glad I did that. I’m so glad I don’t have that regret.” She added that it was “the greatest decision I ever made in my life”.
Moss is next appearing alongside Noah Reid and Hudson Williams in forthcoming Canadian drama Yaga, which arrives in the UK on Sky at the end of this month.
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