Carrie-Anne Moss came into this world on August 21 1967, she was named by her parents after one of their favorite songs, “Carrie-Anne,” a hit for the British pop group The Hollies. Little did anyone know at the time that she would go on to international fame herself. Not as a singer but as a actor. She developed a passion for acting at a very young age. Like many youngsters she acted in school plays and at 17 decided there just might be a future for her as an actor, and so took some lessons. But work didn’t come quickly, and she decided to head to Europe where she was in steady demand as a model. Deep down, however, Moss still wanted to act. She was in Spain when she auditioned for and landed the role of legal secretary, Tara McDonald, in the series Dark Justice (1991). The show moved to Los Angeles after only one season, and it must have seemed like all of her dreams were coming true. Her next opportunity was, like a trick employed in the movies, a foreshadowing of things to come. Moss was cast as Liz, the love interest for Nick Mancuso in the series Matrix. Mancuso`s character was called Matrix, and the series had nothing to do with the hit movie still in her future. After Matrix, she appeared in several films and had the usual guest appearances on television shows. She starred in Aaron Spelling’s primetime soap opera Models Inc (1994). Given her background, the show should have been a perfect fit, but it was canceled after one short season. A year later, she was back as Lucinda Scott on F/X: The Series (1996). Moss also had a guest appearance on Due South (1996), which brought a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role.
Then came The Matrix (1999), not to be confused with the TV series. This was the movie that gave Moss her long-awaited break. Co-starring with Keanu Reeves, she played Trinity and literally threw herself into the role, performing all of the moves and stunts demanded by the innovative script. If the expression is “be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it” Carrie-Anne Moss may be a perfect example. It’s come to the point that when she`s wearing sunglasses, a device famous people often use to hide their faces, people instantly recognize her from that movie.
If The Matrix gave Moss her break, her next few roles gave her career the solid foundation all actors can only hope to achieve. For example, she co-starred in Momento (2000), a film that quickly developed an almost cult-like following of fans. Then came the beautifully shot Chocolat (2000). While her role was small, to appear with and hold your own against actors like Juliette Binoche and Judi Dench, who played her mother, was testament to the fact Moss had arrived.
Fans of The Matrix and of Trinity rejoiced with the release of The Matrix Reloaded in 2003, quickly followed by The Matrix Revolutions (2003). Seemingly not even pausing to catch her breath, Moss continued to stretch her abilities, signing on to co-star
with such heavyweights as Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close and John Heard in the drama The Chumscrubber (2005). She won a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 2005 Canada/UK co-production Snow Cake, with Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, and in 2006 she appeared in the Zombie comedy, Fido.
In 2015, Moss is scheduled to return to both the small screen and the big screen. She will costar in a series titled A.K.A. Jesiican Jones, and on the big screen she’ll play Elizabeth Frankenstein in a modern-day, Los Angeles set retelling of the classic Mary Shelly tale, which is scheduled for release in mid-October, just ahead of Halloween.
Extremely talented, with boundless energy and a range of emotions she seems to have easy access to, Carrie-Anne Moss is reaching a stride and pace befitting the status she now commands. A status deserved not just for being in a string of successful movies, but for her work as an actor in those films.
Also see: Carrie-Anne Moss filmography.
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