Sandra Bullock turned down lead role in 'The Matrix' after 'desperate' producers offered to rewrite the part as female

Sandra Bullock has found success in everything from romantic comedies to gripping dramas, but producers of The Matrix revealed that she was offered the lead role of Neo in the iconic sci-fi trilogy.

During production of the first film producers were 'desperate' to cast the role, and approached the Oscar winner with the offer that they would rewrite the lead role as female if she agreed to sign onto the project.

"We went out to so many people I don't remember. We were getting desperate," said producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura in a new interview with The Wrap.

Given that directors the Wachowskis had only one directing credit under their belt, Warner Bros. production studio insisted on tying the project to a big-name star.

"We went to Sandy Bullock and said, 'We'll change Neo to a girl.' [Producer] Joel Silver and I worked with Sandy on Demolition Man and she was and continues to be a very good friend of mine," di Bonaventura explained.

"It was pretty simple. We sent her the script to see if she was interested in it. And if she was interested in it we would try to make the change."

Bullock ended up turning down the role and later said that she felt it went to the right person, Keanu Reeves later being cast as Neo in one of his most iconic roles to date.

But the lead wasn't the only role Bullock was offered in The Matrix -- she was also considered for the role of Trinity, which eventually went to Carrie-Anne Moss.

The Birdbox star holds no hard feelings though, previously praising the films, saying, "It was sexy and great because of Carrie-Anne and Keanu."

Though The Matrix eventually found its lead in Reeves, there were several false starts before the John Wick star was finally cast.

"Along the way we realised how hard it was what we were doing. Here were these young guys [the Wachowskis] who had done one movie, and they were going to direct this very hard-to-understand script," di Bonaventura said.

He explained that Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith had all been approached for the role of Neo, but each had to turn the role down.

"The good news was, Keanu said yes and he was awesome," added di Bonaventura.

The role of Morpheus was also difficult to cast, the production team considering Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer before signing Lawrence Fishburne onto the project.