Rosie Perez bombed her Matrix audition in a very wholesome way

Birds of Prey
(Image credit: HBO)

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.

Lauren Milici
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.