Matrix Resurrections actor says Lana Wachowski considered leaving film during COVID shutdown

After decades of waiting, Matrix fans will soon have another film to see in the franchise’s messed-up universe. The Matrix Resurrections is coming out this December, with director Lana Wachowski back directing the film. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are also reprising their characters, Neo and Trinity, and there will be new characters we’ve yet to meet, as well.

One of those new characters is the blue-haired, rabbit-tattooed Bugs, played by Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist, Game of Thrones). In a new interview with Collider, Henwick shared what it was like shooting Resurrections, particularly when the pandemic hit, causing production to halt in mid-March, 2020. 

“When we were shut down for COVID and we went off three months, I still was at home training every day, even though we didn't know if we were going back,” she said. “Lana said, 'Well, maybe that's it. Maybe we won't come back and film the rest of it. Maybe the new Matrix will go down as this legendary film which [is] incomplete, and no one will ever be able to see it. Maybe that's what this is meant to be.'”

Luckily, the rest of the cast and crew felt like fans did, and urged her to continue. “We were all going, 'No, you have to finish the film,’” Henwick said. “But she really did toy with the idea of just calling it quits ... For me, even though I didn't know whether we would come back, I couldn't think about that, and so I trained throughout the entire break because I just had to focus. I just had to be positive and go, 'No, we're gonna go finish the film. We have to. This can't be how my Matrix journey ends.'"

As we all know, the film eventually went back into production with COVID protocols in place. We’ll be able to see how Henwick’s Matrix journey begins when The Matrix Resurrections premieres Dec. 22 in theaters and on HBO Max.