8. Chow Yun Fat, Russell Crowe, Sean Connery And Samuel L. Jackson Were All Considered For The Role Of Morpheus
It's hard to imagine any other actor inhabiting the role of Morpheus quite as well as Laurence Fishburne. With his long black leather trenchcoat and iconic shades, his image is embedded in our memory of the film as clearly as the red and blue pills he presents to Neo. But it could have been very different. Sean Connery has publicly stated that he turned down the role, claiming that he didn't understand the script, while Russell Crowe is alleged to have turned down the part as well. Most ironic, however, is the fact that Samuel L. Jackson turned down playing Morpheus shortly before the part went to Laurence Fishburne - only a few years before, Fishburne himself turned down a part in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction - which went to Jackson. Could this be why a certain reporter recently confused Jackson for Fishburne?