Will Smith Stars in ‘The Matrix’ Parody 27 Years After Rejecting Neo Role. Watch Smith in the music video for "Beautiful Scars," where the actor-rapper finally gets to take the red pill.

In any case, Smith and Kilmer aren’t the only casting near-misses from those early production days, when the many now-iconic elements of The Matrix were still mere matters of conjecture.

Will Smith turned down an iconic role in a major sci-fi franchise, ... “I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth, all right, I did turn down Neo in The Matrix,” Smith said.

In the “Beautiful Scars” video, Smith portrays Neo, a role he turned down when the Wachowskis offered him the lead in their 1999 sci-fi action movie “The Matrix.” Keanu Reeves ultimately ...

Laurence Fishburne hasn’t seen Will Smith play Neo in the “Matrix”-inspired music video for Smith’s single “Beautiful Scars” with rapper Big Sean. In fact, Fishburne wasn’t even ...