Out of all the actors in all the world, there is not one that could maybe pull off the part of Neo more than Nicolas Cage. He turned down that role, and instead it went to Keanu Reeves–only the second most spaced out actor in Hollywood. Cage went on to bring us such gems as Face/Off, Wickerman, and most recently The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, never ceasing to dazzle viewers with his ability to play offbeat lunatics that may or may not have been based on Nicolas Cage. It’s hard to not imagine him in the final scene of The Matrix, flying past the camera, cackling like the maniac he was born to play.
