IN PREPARATION for The Matrix, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving spent four solid months during the winter of 1997-98 training with master martial artist and wire work specialist Yuen Wo Ping to learn the skills required to perform the film's complex and demanding fight scenes.

When the actors returned to training for The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions in November 2000, they were ready. "Training for these two films was probably three times harder than preparing for the first," Reeves admits. "Neo's Kung Fu elements and wire work are more sophisticated there are more movements in one particular fight in Reloaded than there are in the whole of the first Matrix." Although her performance doesn't betray it, not all went well for Moss during training.

"I trained for six or seven weeks before we even officially began, to be in great shape so I could really, really, really kick some ass," she says.

"And then I landed wrong during training, and basically, my thigh broke my knee. And I broke it right then and there, but I went into total shock and denial, and decided to drive myself home and then drive myself back to work the next day. It was brutal, because all I could think of at the time was, Oh my God, I'm not gonna be able to do the movie!'"

"Carrie-Anne and I escaped injury on the first film, so we were due," muses Fishburne. "We both got injured this time. She broke her leg and I severely hyperextended my wrist, which put me in a soft cast for about six weeks and slowed me down."

But Fishburne's judicious training method helped him to stay on schedule despite his injury. "I approached training a little smarter this time, and since the trainers understood what we were capable of and we understood what was going to be required of us, we were able to pace ourselves a lot better. Because maintaining a particular kind of shape for two years is a lot harder than maintaining it for nine months."

May 22, 2003 13:00