Laurence Fishburne Reveals He Offered To Return For “The Matrix 4”

Laurence Fishburne hasn’t completely closed the door on returning to The Matrix. While chatting on The View on April 3 about his upcoming movie The Amateur, the 63-year-old actor responded to Sara Haines’ question about whether he’d ever consider playing Morpheus again. 

Laurence, who wasn’t in The Matrix Resurrections (2021), said, “It depends on the circumstances — who is involved, how well the script has been written, if they offer me.”

He revealed, “…I offered my services to the fourth Matrix, and they didn’t respond well. So hey, it’s not like I didn’t say, ‘Oh, I’d like to offer my services.’ I did. And for whatever reason, that didn’t happen. Okay. But that’s the truth. So, we’ll see.” 

Back in October 2022, Laurence told Variety that he didn’t feel like he missed out on the sequel, even though it brought back Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. He praised his former co-stars, saying, “But I thought Carrie-Anne and Keanu really did their thing.”

Laurence admitted the movie “wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” though he added, “And it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be.” 

This wasn’t the first time the actor addressed his absence from the film, as he told New York Magazine in August 2020 that he had “not been invited” to reprise his iconic role. Still, he remained optimistic, saying, “Maybe that will make me write another play. I wish them well. I hope it’s great.”

Laurence’s focus is now on The Amateur, a spy thriller directed by James Hawes. The film stars Rami Malek as Charlie Heller, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder who takes justice into his own hands after his wife, played by Rachel Brosnahan, is murdered. The death sets off a globe-trotting, high-stakes mission of revenge. The cast also includes Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Adrian Martinez, and Danny Sapani. The movie, based on Robert Littell’s 1981 novel, hits theaters on April 11.