The “silly movies” that made Carrie-Anne Moss fall in love with cinema
You probably know Carrie-Anne Moss best as Trinity charismatically stoic computer hacker, programme escapee and all-around badass from The Matrix franchise.
While it can be difficult to separate this fantastic actor from her most iconic role, she’s continually played other strong, complex and intellectual characters since the beginning of the franchise.
From strong authority figures like lawyer Jenny Hogarth in Jessica Jones to a manipulative bartender in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, she’s adept at these kinds of difficult female roles. Most recently, she starred as a hardened survivalist in the 2024 dystopian zombie drama Die Alone, so one would presume that she grew up with many similar roles that piqued her interest in film and made her want to become an actor.
But that’s not really the case. As with many kids, the films that first interested Moss in cinema were much more frivolous. “I grew up going to movies all the time. I loved silly movies as a child,” she explained, “Movies like Grease and Flash Dance”. While many readers out there might be outraged to see such classics referred to as ‘silly’, there’s no doubt they’re much more on the light side than most of Moss’ back catalogue.
Of course, Grease needs very little introduction. The 1970s does 1950s greaser musical has remained a cultural touchstone for both musical lovers and haters alike. Starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta’s gyrating hips, alighting fame’s stratosphere with sweaty ferocity, the film was a poignant moment for youngings in the 1980s zeitgeist. Its soundtrack remains a best-selling album, and while the campy aesthetics of sweatbands and legwarmers and cheesy storyline might seem frivolous, they no doubt lent to its iconic status.
Flashdance is similarly frivolous in that it’s a dance drama, although it’s undoubtedly a little darker than Grease. It follows an aspiring dancer with little prospects as she attempts to become a ballerina, while working in a steel mill by day and a cabaret by night. It follows the pitfalls of following our dreams mired in issues of class and ambition. Carrie-Anne might also consider it silly, given that it was negatively reviewed at the time, but it still has somewhat of a cult following and had an equally beloved soundtrack.
Moss goes on to explain that she “always liked movies about the underdog” and grew up watching the Rocky films. Just like Flashdance, Rocky focused on the titular character’s chance to make it as a boxer. Obviously, these films really don’t need too much explaining either. Yet again, the film spawned beloved music that is still culturally relevant and renowned by even those too young to fully appreciate its impact.
The three films mentioned definitely do cater to the underdog, which is interesting considering the roles that Moss has taken over the years. Her characters could rarely be called underdogs, but the actor explains that she found these films inspiring: “I’ve always felt that movies have the ability to inspire. I have been inspired by so many movies in my life”.
Plenty of representations of underdogs showed her that she didn’t have to be one. Then again, her breakthrough role as Trinity didn’t come along until she was already in her 30s and several years into the business, so some imprint of her past truly does linger on her present momentum.
