'The Matrix Resurrections': Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss' chemistry, Sati's Indian heritage
Lana Wachowski is back with Canadian duo Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss (Neo and Trinity) in The Matrix Resurrections (movie in theatres Dec. 22), and new cast member Priyanka Chopra Jonas is opening up about the intimidating aspects of entering such a legendary series of films.
“When I went on to set, the magnitude of the legacy of the movie, that kind of hits you,” Chopra Jonas told Yahoo Canada. “The fact that I was playing a character that was already established and beloved, and there were fan theories around her and all of that, that's intimidating.”
“Working with Lana, I mean she's a force of nature and she's someone who knows what she wants and doesn't like rehearsals… My first scene was with the entire cast, where I'm spewing all my lines in the movie, so it was intimidating on so many levels but that's always a good thing.”
What is 'The Matrix Resurrections' about?
At the outset of The Matrix Resurrections we see Thomas Anderson, aka Neo, as a successful video game developer for “The Matrix” games. He’s told by his boss and business partner Smith (Jonathan Groff) that the parent company Warner Bros. needs him to make a fourth game in the series. A very on-the-nose nudge to what you’re watching.
Thomas starts to see the lines blurring between his video game content and what he believes to be real life, often enhanced when he sees a woman he doesn’t believe he should know, Tiffany (who we know as Trinity), with her children at a local coffee shop. But Thomas, who has been prescribed medication (a blue pill to be specific), talks through these seemingly delusional thoughts with a therapist (Neil Patrick Harris), who seems to have an answer for all of his concerns.
Without spoiling any additional details, that’s when the layers of Thomas’ reality start to shift, with a large focus on Neo’s love for Trinity.
One thing that is certainly evident in The Matrix Resurrections is that nostalgia for fans of the trilogy is the name of the game, with this movie littered with flashbacks and callbacks to the previous films.
When asked about working with The Matrix icons Reeves and Moss, Chopra Jonas said “they're both such movie stars” but incredibly “kind,” “compassionate” and “encouraging.”
“It was so amazing to see them together, they have this amazing friendship and chemistry, and familiarity that is really cool to be around and witness,” Chopra Jonas said.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas leaning into Sati's Indian heritage
Chopra Jonas is entering The Matrix world as Sati, the daughter of two programmers, who we previously saw as a child. A program with no purpose but her existence being the result of love, when we left the trilogy it was believed that Sati would play a large role in the relationship between humans and machines.
While Chopra Jonas revealed that Wachowski doesn’t really like to talk about the character (the filmmaker wants the actors to figure it out for themselves), Wachowski did tell her how she should feel at certain moments.
Chopra Jonas also got to create the physicality of adult Sati with the hair, makeup and wardrobe departments, which she highlights leans into the character’s Indian heritage. The look harkens back to the character as a child, particularly the middle part and buns in her hair.
“The pants are like Indian dhoti and we [used the borders] of sarees for lots of outfit, even though she's a warrior,” Chopra Jonas explained.
“So it was really cool to subtly incorporate those things into the physicality of who she is and then I just took the information I had in this movie and the information that was established in the previous movie, and sort of built her backstory.”
