Who are Lilly and Lana Wachowski's parents? Trans duo behind 'Matrix' didn't come together for Pt 4
After over a decade, Neo and Trinity returned to the screens with their edge-of-the-seat adventures inside the world of Matrix. 'The Matrix Resurrections', which released on December 22, marked the fourth film in the popular franchise. Originally created by The Wachowski Brothers (now Sisters) in 1999, the Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne Moss-starrer movie series have kept sci-fi lovers hooked for ages. However, the latest movie opened with a lukewarm response from fans and critics, who appreciated the nostalgia but failed to find the thrill of the trilogy.
Little known to many, 'Matrix' Part 4 is the solo directorial venture of Lana Wachowski, who had created the former movies together with her sister Lilly Wachowski. The trans sister duo sparked rumors of fallout after the audience could not find Lilly's name in the credits. She later refuted the speculations, but said that she found the idea of returning to the fourth film "expressly unappealing". Meanwhile, director Lana Wachowski opened up about how the death of her parents prompted her to re-enter the world of Matrix.
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Lana and Lilly Wachowski were born as males in 1965 and 1967, to Ron Wachowski and Lynne Luckinbill. The two siblings had two more sisters, namely Julie and Laura Wachowski, and the four of them grew up together. Their father Ron was a businessman of Polish descent, while their mother Lynne was a nurse and painter. Lynne was also the sister of Emmy-winning actor Lawrence Luckinbill.
Lana was the first among the two sisters to undergo gender reaffirmation surgery. She later opened up about her traumatic childhood where she struggled with her identity and even contemplated suicide at one point. She attended a Catholic school where she was physically abused by a nun for not joining the boys' line.
However, the sisters always acknowledge the unfailing support they received from their parents. "Having good parents is like winning a lottery. My biggest fear was all about losing my family, once they accepted me, everything was a piece of cake," Lana shared once. In 2012, Lana came out as transgender and was soon followed by her sister Lilly in 2016.
Prior to the release of Matrix Resurrections, Lana shared how she decided to plan another Matrix sequel with her sister, to cope up with the death of their parents.
"When mom and dad passed, I went to [Lilly] and said, ‘Look, this idea came to me. I can see that it’s about me working with my grief, and I was thinking, do you want to work on it together?" she told The Hollywood Reporter. However, Lilly wanted to portray the film in an alternate way, so eventually, she decided to back out of the project. "That’s what grief does. Grief spirals us off in different directions, and you can see that there’s a lot of mom and dad in [Lilly Wachoswki’s TV series] Work in Progress. She’s doing something similar, but not the same. I wanted to go back and feel this thing again, and she wanted to go off and do this other thing,” Lana explained.
The Matrix Resurrections released on December 22, 2021 and is now available in theatres near you as well as streaming online on HBO Max.