The “Star Wars” and “The Matrix” franchises share an interesting history. In 1999, there was only one movie that truly mattered for geeks, and that was George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.” Everything else was an appetizer for the long-awaited return of the series that captured the imagination of a generation.
“The Matrix,” which opened two months before the first “Star Wars” film in 16 years, wound up outshining “The Phantom Menace,” and, though it did not outgross Lucas’ film, it generated more buzz and speculation about how the Wachowskis would explore this expansive universe in future installments.
Though Keanu Reeves’ Neo was the savior protagonist, the character that first grabbed our attention was Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity. She’s the star of the film’s dynamic opening scene, in which she defies gravity and runs up walls while taking out a quartet of cops with astonishing ease. Welcome to “The Matrix,” and your new favorite sci-fi badass.
Trinity’s wire-fu powers called to mind the great wuxia of Hong Kong cinema (which would break through to American audiences a year later in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”). But they were also reminiscent of the Jedi powers seen in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. “The Matrix” might’ve stolen Lucas’ thunder in 1999, but the film clearly owed a debt to his galaxy far, far away.
So it feels like a kind of homecoming for Moss to bring her wire-work expertise to Leslye Headland’s new “Star Wars” series, “The Acolyte.”
Jedi Master Indara is the most powerful Jedi in the room
When you cast Carrie-Anne Moss as a Jedi Master, you damn well better endow her with the most formidable powers imaginable. Headland fully understood this, and in Jedi Master Indara has given “Star Wars” fans a character that could prove to be as popular as such wildly beloved folks as Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Boba Fett.
Just check out the first trailer, and tell me you’re not dying to see more of Indara.
Headland is above board about Indara’s “Matrix” connection. “She is very much inspired by Trinity,” said Headland in an interview with Empire. She added that her casting Moss was a “no-brainer.” Per Headland:
“I personally wanted to see someone who had the highest status you could imagine in a Force-fu fight –- somebody that would come in and you immediately would be like, ‘Oh, that’s the most powerful Jedi in the room.’ And that’s Trinity.”
Getting back in fighting form moved Moss’ soul and spirit
Oftentimes, actors are reluctant to riff on their most notable characters for fear of getting typecast. Moss did not have this issue with Headland and “The Acolyte.” As she told Empire, “I felt that a few times in my career with some of the big things I’ve done — “Memento,” “The Matrix” — where you’re talking to the filmmaker and you just go, ‘Oh, they totally get it,'”
That’s incredibly high praise. Moss continued to enthuse:
“Within my soul and my spirit, to get to play this Jedi Master and train for the fight was [an] amazing experience. A part of me forgot how much I love action. I love it. It’s hard. But I was just really thrilled that I could do it, and I wanted to do it well. ‘Gimme another take! Gimme another take!'”
Gimme “The Acolyte” already! The wait is just about over, as “The Acolyte,” which promises to bring the murder-mystery genre to the “Star Wars” universe, hits Disney+ on June 4. If nothing else, it’ll be a treat to see Moss back in gravity-defying, butt-kicking form.
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