10 Actors Who Lost Roles Because They Got Greedy

Marcus Chong's Tank plays a pretty large role in the original The Matrix, and yet it was his salary demands that prevented him returning for any of the sequels... and eventually resulted in a lawsuit.

Chong's 2003 lawsuit contested that the filmmakers had promised him a role in the sequels in a written contract, and had attempted to defame him and curtailed his career when talks broke down. Chong had requested a hefty $1 million for his appearance in future films, but the studio were set at only $400,000. Neither would budge, and as a result Chong was swiftly written out of the sequels and replaced with Harold Perrineau as his brother Link. Tank was explained as being killed offscreen.

Chong uploaded a documentary to his YouTube channel in February 2018 detailing a bunch of bizarre events that happened during the filming of The Matrix, including a claim that Keanu Reeves stole money from animators and was pursuing damages after the Wachowskis had attempted to paint him as a 'terrorist'... yikes.

It's fair to say that his career... tanked after failing to accept that $400,000 salary, as his last onscreen credit was in 2005. Chong also made a mess of his personal credibility by admitting to “crashing a press junket, snatching food from production offices and crank-yanking the Wachowskis” after being fired.