Rosie Perez had the whole room laughing when she bombed her audition for The Matrix.
"I was horrible. As I was walking out, I was like, 'I know I didn't get the job. I really sucked,' and the Wachowskis were like, 'No,' and the casting director was trying not to laugh," Perez told Variety of her audition to play Trinity.
"And then finally I looked at her and I go, 'I really sucked,' and she just burst out laughing. We all were laughing. I just gave the Wachowskis a hug and I said, 'Well, good luck with this.'"
Perez isn't the only actor who blew their chance at Trinity: Salma Hayek told Jada Pinkett Smith (who plays Niobe in the series) that she wasn't physically fit enough for the role (H/T Entertainment Weekly). "I'm flexible and agile, but I'm lazy. I never really went to the gym, they said, 'You have to run!' I go, 'To where?' I couldn't even go around the room once." The audition required acrobatic stunts as well as a three-hour physical fitness test.
The role would ultimately go to Carrie-Anne Moss, who has played the badass computer programmer and hacker for the duration of the franchise. The first film, which hit theaters in 1999, earned over $460 million at the global box office.
Perez currently stars on The Flight Attendant, earning a Primetime Emmy nomination for the role, and Your Honor. She portrayed former detective Renee Montoya in Birds of Prey.
For more, check out our list of the greatest movies of the last decade.
