The Matrix: Why Aaliyah’s Role As Zee Was Recast

The 2003 sequels to The Matrix almost featured pop star Aaliyah, but her role had to be recast. Releasing in 1999, The Matrix became a cinematic landmark of the 1990s, despite arriving at the tail end of the decade. This influence stretched for quite a few years afterward, and in some ways is still stylistically felt today. Bullet time, or slowing down the action to follow bullets as they fly and hit or are dodged, also left a huge mark on action movies and video games.

Coincidentally, it was around that same time that Aaliyah’s star began to fully rise. She’d been making music for a while by then and had a bunch of success, but 1998 saw the release of “Are You That Somebody?,” one of her biggest hits, which oddly enough was from the Dr. Dolittle movie soundtrack. In 1999, Aaliyah starred in her first film, alongside Expendables star Jet Li in Romeo Must Die, the soundtrack of which produced another huge hit song in “Try Again.”

By the time The Matrix Reloaded began filming in March 2001, both The Matrix and Aaliyah were names known worldwide. Her being cast in The Matrix Reloaded and its sequel Revolutions could’ve helped Aaliyah’s film career one day match her music success. She was to play Zee, wife of Nebuchadnezzar crew member Link (Harold Perrineau), in the Matrix sequels and had already filmed her scenes for Reloaded. Sadly, tragedy would soon necessitate a casting change.

Aaliyah sadly died – along with eight other passengers – in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, at only 22-years-old. While Reloaded and Revolutions filmed concurrently between March 2001 and August 2002, Aaliyah hadn’t shot any of Zee’s scenes for Revolutions, which happened when she was flying back from filming her “Rock the Boat” music video. This left directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski no real choice but to recast Zee, and re-shoot the scenes Aaliyah had already taken part in.

Nona Gaye, the daughter of music legend Marvin Gaye and herself an accomplished singer, was enlisted to take over the Zee role. She didn’t go on to do much acting, so it’s still probably her most well-known movie role. While Aaliyah’s death was, and remains, a dark day for the world of entertainment, the scenes she shot for The Matrix Reloaded were at least eventually released on home video as part of the Ultimate Matrix Collection DVD boxset. It’s a small consolation, but at least allows Aaliyah’s fans to see her final filmed work as an actor. Aaliyah’s final completed movie, Queen of the Damned, was also released posthumously, though it wasn’t great overall. However, most agreed that Aaliyah’s iconic role in Queen of the Damned of vampire queen Akasha was the highlight.

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