Smith: I'm Glad I Rejected The Matrix

I, ROBOT star Will Smith is glad he turned down the chance to play NEO in blockbuster The Matrix because he would have "ruined the movie".

The 35-year-old is relieved Hollywood hunk Keanu Reeves played the lead character in the trilogy - which starred Smith's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith as NIOBE - and confesses he would have "forced every moment" because he didn't understand the complex science-fiction script.

Smith admits, "I didn't get it when I read it. It's a hard movie to pitch. You know: 'Everybody lives inside a computer.' It was only when I saw it that I really got it.

"But every so often you see a performance you know you couldn't have given, and Keanu was brilliant as Neo. It was his role. I would have ruined the movie. I would have forced every moment."