Danny Boyle dismisses conspiracy theorist ‘rabbit holes’ in adaption of The Matrix
Danny Boyle said he dismissed the “rabbit holes” conspiracy theorists like Andrew Tate have fallen down when adapting the 1999 film The Matrix for the stage.
The 67-year-old director said his latest project, titled Free Your Mind, focused on the “adventurous” issues the film raised – including climate change and artificial intelligence.
“It was as courageous as a mainstream Hollywood film could ever be on many different points – the gender issue, the digital issues, the AI issue – and that word really didn’t have the currency it has now,” he said.
Joe Pantoliano, Laurence Fishburne, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss in 1999 film The Matrix
“It had a multicultural cast, which was almost unheard of in mainstream Hollywood films, and [the film addressed] climate change.
“All these issues are in this film with a huge and sometimes baffling philosophical network behind it that you’re challenged to find out [about].”
“It’s that that inspired us to see how we could reflect on that, given how everything has moved on since then. And we remain in its searchlight,” he added.
“We concentrated on that rather than actually some of the distortions that [the film] has been used for, some of those rabbit holes that people have gone down.”
The film’s terminology has been adopted by controversial figures such as Elon Musk and Tate with the term “the matrix” often used to describe a malicious layer of society including media, politicians and corporations who allegedly want to silence people.
But choreographer Kenrick Sandy said these types of influencers can engage in “misinformation”.
The show’s creative team (left to right) Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy, Es Devlin, Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Danny Boyle inside Aviva Studios
“In coming into the show, it was more about the light and the awareness as opposed to the conspiracy because sometimes you go down that hole, you’re not coming back,” Sandy said.
“For me, it wasn’t that. It was not about the conspiracy, it’s about an awareness, it’s about enlightenment. We don’t want to feel like we are trying to [say], ‘you must think like this’ – that’s not the way, especially in the world today.
A scene from the show. Pic: Tristram Kenton/Factory International
“There’s too many people trying to say ‘this is the way it is’. Sometimes it’s misinformation, it’s an opinion, it’s not a fact.”
Boyle created the live dance adaption with Sandy, composer Michael Asante, set designer Es Devlin and writer Sabrina Mahfouz. It opened in Manchester‘s Aviva Studios last week – marking the official launch of the £240m project.
An artist’s impression of Aviva Studios, the new cultural venue which opened this month
The director was born and raised in nearby Radcliffe, around seven miles north of Manchester, and said he hopes the new venue will “nurture younger, challenging artists who will come forth and use the profile of the building to present their ideas”.
Choreographer Sandy first worked with Boyle in the 2012 Olympics, when Boyle directed the opening ceremony.
But this is the first project both have worked on from the beginning, with Boyle saying that working within the art form of dance was “extraordinary”.
“You don’t expect this late in life to get a complete education in language values – dance obviously brings a completely different perspective to something.
“There’s so much about The Matrix, not just the manifestations of it in film, there’s The Animatrix and the conspiracy theories and all that kind of stuff, so to bring the language of dance to it feels like a wonderfully refreshing way of renewing our interest in some of its brilliant, dazzling ideas,” Boyle said.
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The film, directed by the Wachowski sisters, sees hacker Thomas Anderson, played by Keanu Reeves, being told that AI has conquered humanity and our lives are part of a computer simulation.
He switches identities to become hero Neo – something co-director Lilly Wachowski said was a metaphor for the experience of the transgender community.
Boyle is best known for directing films including Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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