Indian actor Lara Dutta turned down The Matrix to take care of her ailing mother

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Indian actor Lara Dutta has revealed that she turned down a casting offer for The Matrix in 2001 as her mother was “extremely unwell”.

In a new interview with Hindustan Times, the 43-year-old Bollywood actor recalled the time she had to turn down the Keanu Reeves classic.

“It was a tough time,” Dutta said. “I had not even started out in Bollywood. But I was very clear about what I wanted in life.”

Speaking of rejecting the Matrix role, the Bell Bottom star said: “I just had to be with my mother at the time.”

“I did not even think twice and came back to India,” she said. “And, it wasn’t like I came here thinking we have Bollywood as a backup since I gave up on a huge Hollywood opportunity.”

“I just had to be with my mother at the time since she was unwell, extremely unwell,” Dutta added. “Therefore I did not even think twice and came back to India.”

It’s unclear which Matrix film Dutta had been offered a role in, but it is likely to have been a character featured in sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, which were both released in 2003.

Last year, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who shot to fame in Bollywood before moving to America, played a key role in the franchise reboot The Matrix Resurrections.

Other actors who featured in the film were Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Jessica Henwick, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Yahya Abdul Mateen II.