Keanu Reeves' 'Real' Age in Matrix Movies Makes $1.7 Billion Franchise Even More Iconic

The Matrix grossed an incredible amount of money at the box office — but what's more, it has proved itself as one of the most iconic and culturally significant franchises of the recent decades, despite the contested quality of its sequels.

While there were many factors that helped The Matrix become a pop culture phenomenon, the cult film series owes a lot of its success to solid acting by Keanu Reeves. Besides, if you consider the actor's age when he played the role, it makes you admire his skills and talent even more.

When filming of the original The Matrix movie started in 1997, Reeves was only 33.

Some may recognize the number itself as symbolic since that was the age of Christ at the time of his death and resurrection. And, given the Wachowskis' predilection for heavy-handed quasi-Biblical symbolism, the lead actor's real age appears to be weirdly significant for his character and the fate of the franchise.

Keanu Reeves started his acting career at the age of 20. In today's world, an actor playing their breakthrough role while approaching or in their early 30s isn't uncommon — take Chris Evans, for instance.

But Keanu's case is exceptional in that his success in The Matrix was a rare combination of events, and it's amazing how he even managed to pull this all off.

First, with his role as Neo in The Matrix, Reeves performed a great leap from relative obscurity to full-fledged stardom, which is a rare case in itself. Second, he managed to succeed in a genre that he had tried to tackle previously but failed — do you remember his role as Johnny Mnemonic in the 1995 cyberpunk movie? Only film buffs do! Lastly, Keanu's casting for the role led to the film, and subsequently the whole franchise, becoming a massive hit with audiences worldwide.

All in all, it's simply impressive that this relatively young and little-known actor was able to ensure such enormous success for The Matrix.

Just to contrast Keanu's standing against other stars, we can remember the same Chris Evans, who is undoubtedly a great actor — but he wasn't the one to kickstart MCU!

It's great that the Wachowskis were able to recognize and bring Keanu Reeves' talent to the spotlight. Ultimately, their casting decision helped them produce an amazing $1.7 billion franchise, and the actor became forever associated with his iconic role of Neo from The Matrix — even though many of Keanu's later roles were also memorable!