A Matrix scene that Keanu Reeves fought to keep was based on a lie that fooled everyone

25 years ago, the Wachowskis challenged everything we knew for certain about reality with The Matrix. The sibling directors channeled that wickedly irresistible part of the human brain that whispers a seemingly unified conspiracy theory that everything is a projection designed to deceive us. They did so by presenting simple, indisputable truths in a completely new way.

One of these truths has grown in importance since The MatrixThe government's message of cognitive oppression has become a buzzword for people who preach personal freedom. Between the incredible action scenes and the Messiah's promise of The MatrixBy the end of, something much more subtle captures the longing for the Age of Innocence that drives the film's conflict. The scene in question sees Joe Pantoliano's Cypher betray Morpheus (and Keanu Reeves' Neo) and explain that he simply wants to live in ignorant peace. And Pantolinao only recently revealed something revolutionary about it.

Why Cypher's steak scene in The Matrix is ​​so important

Reality is based on the perception of the Wachowskis' iconic sci-fi

For those who read The Matrix as an activism manifesto, Cypher is a sheep. In fact, he is the worst kind of sheep: one who has the “red pill” but wants to be submerged again in the lie of the Matrix because it is easier. He is a villain in The Matrix because of the betrayal of his fellow rebels, but he is also on a more fundamental level because of his betrayal of the philosophy that so many people adhere to. And everything you need to know about it is delivered in one line The Matrixsteak scene.

Selling his soul to the agents in exchange for a return to the Matrix while eating a frankly delicious-looking steak, Joe Pantoliano's Cypher explains exactly why he wants to ditch the red pill:

“You know, I know that steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is ​​telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realized? Ignorance is bliss.

Cypher is essentially the anti-Neo. Faced with the difficult reality of knowledge and the struggle between rebellion and reality, he chooses the easy life and the simple, stupid reward of pleasure. He is the stand-in for those who choose to be blind to an easier life, in stark contrast to Neo, who chooses to fall down the rabbit hole. Even more importantly, Cypher's choice was designed to hang over the film as a reminder that, despite all his hardships, Neo could give up and return to the machine. The fact that he doesn't is the mark of a true Chosen One.

As an interesting side note, Pantoliano said Inverse that he had a different reading of the scene, which he insisted had another hidden meaning:

“I always had a sneaking suspicion that the Wachwoskis were talking about me. I was blissfully ignorant at that time. And also the idea that Cypher would make a deal where he said 'I want to be someone important as an actor.' I always thought that was funny.”

Joe Pantoliano revealed a big lie about The Matrix

Question everything you see in The Matrix, seriously

Since its launch, The Matrix was praised for its profound predictions about the real worldat least in philosophical terms. The sci-fi classic plays with the idea of ​​reality in a truly exciting way and represents a challenging appeal for those who feel out of control. Neo reclaims his own agency, despite real threats to his life: of course, this would become fetishized – it's extremely attractive.

But the most pleasant thing The Matrix – and the pivotal steak scene in particular – is that the film is a cheat. The film has a complex surface but a very simple message about realizing human potential and the value of resistance. And just as Neo is asked to question everything he sees, the audience has to do the same thing, and a delightful fact about the steak scene proves this perfectly.

Because, in the October 2024 issue of Empire magazine, Pantoliano revealed that the steak scene was based on a big lie:

“We filmed the steak scene at night in a dockside restaurant in Sydney, Australia. Many actors came to watch the sequence – Keanu [Reeves]Carrie-Anne [Moss] and Laurence [Fishburne]. It was a wonderful experience and everyone had the feeling that we were doing something extraordinarily interesting. I never liked beef, so they created shiitake mushrooms because they look like beef. When we stopped for lunch, many people were eating leftover steak. They must have had a hundred of them!”

How can you not find this incredibly funny? The entire message of the film depends on the idea that what is real can be manipulated, and not trusting what you see, and the scene that distills part of this philosophy was based on a cute mistake.

Keanu Reeves struggled to keep the steak scene in The Matrix

The Chosen One fought for the right thing

Pantoliano also revealed in conversation with Inverse that he didn't really understand the scene and also, incredibly, that it almost never made it into the final version:

“So with the steak scene, I never understood the allure of it. Keanu loved that scene. At one point, the Wachowskis mentioned that the studio wanted to eliminate the scene. They didn’t think they needed it and everyone fought for it, but especially Keanu.”

Years ago, Pantoliano spoke about the studio's threat to remove the steak scene, relating a funny anecdote that fits the theory that the Wachowskis wrote the scene for him and based it on his real-life character. He said that the directors “They might have had a twinkle in their eye when they gave me this job, because they saw me as a blissfully ignorant person” And revealed that when he was told that Warner Bros wanted to cut the steak scene and that Reeves was fighting against it, he got it completely wrong:

“They said, 'Keanu is very upset and is saying they can't cut this. I said, 'Well, tell him to get over it. He's in 99% of the film. They started laughing because they realized I hadn’t read it.”

He then doubled down, still without reading the script:

“We're all just messing around, I'm trying to be interesting. So I say to Keanu, 'Hey, I'm glad they kept the steak scene! Let's have fun with this! Everything goes so silent you can hear a pin drop, except for the Wachowskis who are on the floor laughing with tears streaming from their eyes. Finally they manage to catch their breath enough for Lana [Wachowski] say, 'He didn't read the fucking script!'”

Again, it's a delightful case of art imitating life, as Pantoliano grappled with reality in a much more tangible way. Thank goodness for Keanu Reeves' insistence on keeping the scene going, not just because it's so important The Matrixbut also because it gave us the setting for Pantoliano's delightful error.