Lana Wachowski (born Larry Wachowski, June 21, 1965)
and Lilly Wachowski (born Andy Wachowski, December 29, 1967)
are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both
trans women
A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
.
Together known as the Wachowskis (), the sisters have worked as a writing and directing team through most of their careers. They made their directing debut in 1996 with ''
Bound'' and achieved fame with their second film, ''
The Matrix
''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
'' (1999), a major box-office success for which they won the
Saturn Award for Best Director. They wrote and directed its two sequels, ''
The Matrix Reloaded
''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the sequel to ''The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, L ...
'' and ''
The Matrix Revolutions'' (both in 2003), and were involved in the writing and production of other works in the
''Matrix'' franchise.
Following the commercial success of the ''Matrix'' series, the Wachowskis wrote and produced the 2005 film ''
V for Vendetta
''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (comics), David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing Serial (li ...
'', an adaptation of
the graphic novel by
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...
and
David Lloyd, and in 2008 released the film ''
Speed Racer
''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-re ...
'', a live-action adaptation of
the Japanese anime series. Their next film, ''
Cloud Atlas'', based on
the novel by
David Mitchell and co-written and co-directed by
Tom Tykwer, was released in 2012. Their film ''
Jupiter Ascending'' and the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
Sense8'', the latter of which they co-created with
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...
, debuted in 2015; the second season of ''Sense8'' ended the series in 2018 and was Lana's first major project without Lilly.
Since the
series finale
A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...
of ''Sense8'', the Wachowskis have been working separately on different projects: Lilly directed, wrote, and executive-produced several episodes of
Showtime's ''
Work in Progress'' (2019) with creators Abby McEnany and Tim Mason, while Lana filmed ''
The Matrix Resurrections'', written with Mitchell and
Aleksandar Hemon, which was released in December 2021.
Early lives and careers
Lana was born in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1965; Lilly was born two and a half years later, in 1967. Their mother, Lynne (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Luckinbill), was a nurse and painter. Their father, Ron Wachowski, was a businessman of
Polish descent. Their uncle is an actor and
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
-winning producer,
Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence George Luckinbill (born November 21, 1934) is an American actor, playwright and director. He has worked in film, television and theatre, doing triple duty in the theatre by writing, directing and starring in stage productions. He is know ...
.
Ron and Lynne died five weeks apart in the late 2010s. Lana and Lilly have two other sisters, Julie and Laura.
Julie was assistant coordinator for the film ''
Bound''; she is a novelist and screenwriter.
The Wachowskis attended the Kellogg Elementary School in Chicago's
Beverly area, and graduated from
Whitney Young High School, known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983 and 1985.
Former classmates recall them playing ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'' and working in the school's theater and TV program.
Lana went to
Bard College
Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
, in New York state; Lilly attended
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
, in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Each dropped out before graduating, and they ran a house-painting and construction business in Chicago.
Beginning in 1993, they wrote several issues of ''
Ectokid'' for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
'
Razorline imprint (created by horror novelist
Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...
), which were credited to Lana.
They also wrote for the series ''
Clive Barker's Hellraiser'' and ''
Clive Barker's Nightbreed'' for Marvel's
Epic Comics
Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of American publishing company Marvel Comics, active from 1982 to ...
imprint.
Film and television careers
Early film projects
In the mid-1990s, they went into film writing, including the script for ''
Assassins'' in 1994, which was directed by
Richard Donner
Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American film director, producer and actor. Described as "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters", Donner directed some of the mo ...
and released in 1995.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
bought the script and included two more pictures in the contract.
Donner had their script "totally rewritten" by
Brian Helgeland and the Wachowskis tried unsuccessfully to remove their names from the film.
They say the experience gave them the perspective that they should become directors or "
hey willnever survive as writers in this town".
Their next project was the 1996
neo-noir
Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...
thriller ''
Bound'', for which they wrote the script and made their debut as directors. The film was well received for its style and craft,
and was noted as one of the first mainstream films to feature a same-sex relationship without it being central to the plot.
Taking advantage of the positive buzz, the Wachowskis asked to direct their next picture, ''
The Matrix
''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
''.
''The Matrix'' franchise
They completed ''The Matrix'', a
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
action film, in 1999. The movie stars
Keanu Reeves as
Neo, a hacker recruited by a rebellion to aid them in the fight against machines who have taken over the world and placed humanity inside a
simulated reality
A simulated reality is an approximation of reality created in a simulation, usually in a set of circumstances in which something is engineered to appear real when it is not.
Most concepts invoking a simulated reality relate to some form of compu ...
called "the Matrix".
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...
,
Carrie-Anne Moss,
Hugo Weaving and
Joe Pantoliano also star. The movie was a critical and commercial hit for Warner Bros. It won four Academy Awards, including for
"Best Visual Effects" for popularizing the
bullet time visual effect. ''The Matrix'' came to be a
major influence for action movies and has appeared in several "greatest science fiction films" lists. In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant".

After its success, the Wachowskis directed two sequels
back-to-back
Back to Back or back-to-back may refer to:
Film and theatre
*Back to Back (film), ''Back to Back'' (film), a 1996 American action film
*Back-to-back film production, the practice of making two films as a unified production
*Back to Back Theatre, ...
, ''
The Matrix Reloaded
''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the sequel to ''The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, L ...
'' and ''
The Matrix Revolutions'', both released in 2003. ''The Matrix Reloaded'' received positive critical reception, although not on the level of the original. It became a major box office hit, retaining the spot of the highest-grossing
R-rated film for over a decade (until 2016's ''
Deadpool''). ''The Matrix Revolutions'' received a mixed critical reception and performed only moderately in the box office. Although profitable, it was slightly less so compared to the original film.
During production of the first film, the Wachowskis and Spencer Lamm, who ran the film's official website, developed comics based on the setting of the film, which were published free of charge on the website. These and a few short stories were released in three series from 1999 to 2003, with several of them (along with new material) collected in two print volumes in 2003 and 2004. The Wachowskis themselves contributed "Bits and Pieces", a prequel to the movie that explains the origins of the Matrix, featuring illustrations by
Geof Darrow
Geofrey "Geof" Darrow (born October 21, 1955) is an American comic book artist, best known for his work on comic series ''Shaolin Cowboy'', ''Hard Boiled (comics), Hard Boiled'' and ''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'', which was adapted into ...
, the movie's conceptual designer. Other writers and artists that contributed to the series include
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...
,
Dave Gibbons
David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story " For the M ...
,
Paul Chadwick,
Ted McKeever,
Poppy Z. Brite
William Joseph Martin (born May 25, 1967), formerly Poppy Z. Brite, is an American author. He initially achieved fame in the Gothic fiction, gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s by publishing a string of successful novels and shor ...
, and
Steve Skroce.
After Lilly Wachowski came out as transgender, she encouraged looking back on her and Lana's works "through the lens of our transness", saying that the themes of identity, self-image and transformation are apparent in ''The Matrix''.
Later collaborations
The Wachowskis' next feature film was ''
V for Vendetta
''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (comics), David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing Serial (li ...
'', an adaptation of
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...
and
David Lloyd's graphic novel
of the same name, starring
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...
and
Hugo Weaving. They wrote and produced the film with ''Matrix'' producer
Joel Silver
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer.
Life and career
Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School ...
, who had previously purchased the film rights to the graphic novel. The Wachowskis offered the film to
James McTeigue
James McTeigue (born 29 December 1967) is an Australian film and television director. He has been an assistant director on many films, including ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1998), the The Matrix (franchise)#Films, ''Matrix'' trilogy ( ...
, the first assistant director of ''The Matrix'' trilogy, as his directorial debut. Moore did not participate in the production, as he was disappointed by previous Hollywood adaptations of his work, and disagreed with differences between his graphic novel and the screenplay. Following a statement to the press by Silver that Moore was supposedly excited to learn more about the movie, Moore demanded that Silver retract it, and had his own name removed from the credits when he did not. The film's controversial storyline and themes have been both criticized and praised by sociopolitical groups. It was released in 2005 and was well received critically; it was a box office success but did not rank on the scale of ''The Matrix'' films. The film popularized the image of the
Guy Fawkes mask, as the version designed by
David Lloyd for the graphic novel and used in the movie was adopted as a symbol by the online
hacktivist
Hacktivism (or hactivism; a portmanteau of '' hack'' and ''activism''), is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. A form of Internet activism with roo ...
group
Anonymous
Anonymous may refer to:
* Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown
** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author
* Anonym ...
two years later.
In 2006, Silver had the Wachowskis and McTeigue hired to revamp ''
The Invasion'' for Warner Bros. The studio was disappointed in the original cut of the film by director
Oliver Hirschbiegel and hired the Wachowskis to rewrite a portion of the script and add new action scenes, which McTeigue directed. The film, the fourth adaptation of the novel ''
The Body Snatchers'', was released in 2007 and was not a critical or box office success. The Wachowskis and McTeigue are not credited on the film.
The Wachowskis returned to directing with ''
Speed Racer
''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-re ...
'' (2008) which starred
Emile Hirsch
Emile Davenport Hirsch (born March 13, 1985) is an American actor. His portrayal of Chris McCandless in '' Into the Wild'' (2007) earned him acclaim and multiple award nominations.
Other notable roles include '' The Girl Next Door'' (2004), '' ...
. The film, which was again produced by Silver, was an adaptation of a
1960s Japanese manga series originally called ''Mach GoGoGo'', which had previously been adapted as an
anime television series in 1967. The Wachowskis were attracted to the project because the series was the first anime they had watched, and they wanted to make a family-friendly film for their nieces and nephews to enjoy. In an effort to simulate the look of anime in live action, the Wachowskis had cinematographer
David Tattersall shoot the movie
digitally on a
digital backlot with the intention of adding extensive visual effects in post-production. The movie was considered a critical and
commercial failure. While its special effects were noted as outstanding, the storyline is considered lacking. It was nominated in the category of "Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel" for the
29th Golden Raspberry Awards. Its box office gross was $93 million compared to a production budget of $120 million. Since then, critics periodically have put the film on lists of underrated or
cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...
s.
The Wachowskis' next film project was ''
Ninja Assassin'', a
martial arts film
Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...
starring
Rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
, which was released in 2009. It was inspired by Rain's fighting scene in ''Speed Racer''. It was produced by the Wachowskis in their last involvement with Silver, and directed by McTeigue. The screenplay was written by Matthew Sand and
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...
, whom the Wachowskis called six weeks before filming to ask him for a total rewrite completed within a week, because they were dissatisfied with the earlier drafts and were running out of time. ''Ninja Assassin'' received negative reviews and performed lukewarmly in the theaters but respectably on home video.
Their next directorial outing was ''
Cloud Atlas'', which was adapted from
David Mitchell's
2004 novel of the same name and starred an
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to the po ...
which included
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and
Halle Berry
Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...
. ''Cloud Atlas'' was written and directed in collaboration with German filmmaker
Tom Tykwer, to whom the Wachowskis had introduced the novel several years earlier. The filmmakers failed to secure funding from a studio (save for $20 million by Warner Bros.) and the film was produced independently after much trouble. With a budget of over $100 million it was noted as the most expensive independent movie to that date and the first attempt at a German blockbuster. The movie opened at the
37th annual Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012 to acclaim and received a loud and lengthy standing ovation. In its general release a month later, it received polarized reviews and eventually appeared in both "Best Film" and "Worst Film" lists. Overall reviews were mixed to positive. The film received many nominations and awards, particularly for its technical aspects, including 10 nominations for the
German Film Award
The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...
, out of which it won five. It also received five
Saturn Award nominations, out of which it won two. David Mitchell liked the script of ''Cloud Atlas'', spent some time on the set (including filming a cameo), and had a positive impression about the result. According to the Wachowskis the movie was the hardest of their films to make, the one they are the most proud of, and the one they have been told has touched people's lives the most. They believe ''Cloud Atlas'' will be the film for which they will be remembered.
The Wachowskis subsequently produced and directed ''
Jupiter Ascending'', an original
space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...
screenplay they wrote. The film was released in 2015. It stars
Channing Tatum
Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...
and
Mila Kunis, and features the Wachowskis' regular collaborators
John Gaeta on visual effects and
Kym Barrett on costumes. According to ''
Deadline'', the financial and critical failure of ''Jupiter Ascending'' caused their business relationship with Warner Bros, that began with ''The Matrix'' franchise, to be terminated.
Their next project was the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
science fiction drama series ''
Sense8'', created and written with J. Michael Straczynski. ''Sense8'' features an international
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to the po ...
and was shot in multiple cities around the world. The Wachowskis directed most of the episodes of the first season, with the rest being handled by McTeigue, Tykwer, and their go-to visual effects supervisor on their movies, Dan Glass, in his directorial debut. The first season premiered in 2015 to generally positive reviews, particularly for the scale of the production and the presentation of diverse and
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
characters and themes, winning the
GLAAD Media Award
The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...
for
Outstanding Drama Series. It also received a
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
nomination for
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. After the first season, Lilly took a break from it, for what turned out to be the remainder of the series. A
Christmas special
Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared Christmas in literature, in literature and Christmas music, in music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth o ...
was released on December 23, 2016, with the remainder of the show's second season released in May 2017.
Subsequently, the third season was canceled, and ''Sense8'' concluded with a two-hour finale which aired in June 2018.
In June 2016, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
invited the Wachowskis to join its ranks. However, in April 2025, Lilly Wachowski said "I'm not in the Academy. I'm not going to join the Academy." during an interview.
Solo projects
In May 2019, it was reported that Lilly would co-write, and co-
showrun the eight-episode first season of the
drama-comedy series ''
Work in Progress'', created by Abby McEnany and Tim Mason for
Showtime. The series premiered in December 2019. In January 2020, the series was renewed for a 10-episode second season, with which Lilly would continue to be involved.
In August 2019, it was announced that Lana would be returning to write, direct and produce ''
The Matrix Resurrections'', the fourth installment of the ''Matrix'' series, with Reeves and Moss also reprising their roles; it marks the first film made by only one of the Wachowskis. Lana wrote the script with David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon. The film was released in December 2021.
In February 2024,
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
announced that Lilly would direct ''Trash Mountain'', a film about a young
gay man returning from Chicago to rural
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
to deal with the aftermath of his hoarder father's death. The film, Lilly's first directorial effort since ''Jupiter Ascending'', will star
Caleb Hearon, be written by Hearon and Ruby Caster and will be produced by
Colin Trevorrow
Colin Trevorrow (; born September 13, 1976) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He made his feature directorial debut with the science fiction comedy ''Safety Not Guaranteed'' (2012) to critical and commercial success. Trevo ...
, Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev.
In April 2024, it was announced that Warner Bros. was developing a new ''Matrix'' installment with
Drew Goddard attached to write and direct, for which Lana will serve as an executive producer.
Style and influences
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...
, who has worked with the Wachowskis on ''Ninja Assassin'' and ''Sense8'', has said that the sisters told him they were reading his column on scriptwriting for the ''
Writer's Digest
''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles.
History
''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 und ...
'' magazine, for inspiration and pointers. Straczynski contributed to the magazine from 1981 to 1991.
In 1998, in the context of explaining how they got their start in filmmaking, the Wachowskis mentioned
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...
's book ''How I Made A Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime'', and indicated, with laughter, that they liked his movies, and began by wanting to "make a low-budget horror movie".
In the same interview they stated that they felt flattered, after their first film, by comparisons others had made between them and the
Coen brothers
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...
, who had "made five, maybe six great movies..." at that time.
Speaking to Bernard Weintraub of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in April 1999, the Wachowskis mentioned explicitly that they prepared for their first ''Matrix'' production by studying the works of
John Woo
John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...
"and other Hong Kong filmmakers", as well as reading and rereading Homer's ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'', and studying the works of
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...
,
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
,
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...
,
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
,
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...
, and
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...
.
Mark Miller, writing in ''Wired'' in 2003, also listed
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
,
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...
,
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...
, and philosopher
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...
.
In an interview with ''
Gadfly'' in 1998 (after their first movie), the Wachowskis reiterated their influence by or enjoyment of Huston (e.g. ''
Treasure of the Sierra Madre'') and Wilder (e.g., ''
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...
'' and ''
Lost Weekend''), and added to these the impacts of
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
(e.g. ''
Strangers on a Train'' and ''
Psycho''),
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
(e.g. ''
Repulsion''), and
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
(the
''Godfather'' movies, and ''
The Conversation'').
Ken Wilber
Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American theorist and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a four-quadrant grid which purports to encompass all human knowledge and experience. Starting publishing ...
has been cited as an influence.
The Wachowskis admit to a love for telling multi-part stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the
Tolkien trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...
, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Lana has said. Lilly says: "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audiences' expectations." In terms of themes expressed in their body of work, Lana has cited "the inexplicable nature of the universe
eingin constant dialogue with our own consciousness and our consciousness actually affect
ngthe inexplicable nature of the universe",
"interconnectivity and about truth beneath the surface", "the paradox of choice and choicelessness", "transcendence ... transcending archetypal boxes, stereotypes", "race ... an important component" and "gender ... it's one of our most significant cultural subjects".
The Wachowskis cited the art of comic book artist
Geof Darrow
Geofrey "Geof" Darrow (born October 21, 1955) is an American comic book artist, best known for his work on comic series ''Shaolin Cowboy'', ''Hard Boiled (comics), Hard Boiled'' and ''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'', which was adapted into ...
as an influence on the look of ''The Matrix''. Also, they said that ''
Ghost in the Shell
''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...
'', ''
Ninja Scroll'', and ''
Akira'' were anime that inspired them, saying "in anime, one thing that they do that we tried to bring to our film was a juxtaposition of time and space in action beats".
The Wachowskis cited
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's ''
2001: A Space Odyssey'' as a major influence for ''Cloud Atlas''. They first saw the film when they were ten and seven, respectively.
Lana has most been influenced by ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...
'', ''
Ma vie en rose'', and ''
My Neighbor Totoro''. Both Wachowskis are fans of the ''Ghost in the Shell'', ''Akira'', ''
Wicked City'', ''Ninja Scroll'' and ''
Fist of the North Star
is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 volumes ...
''
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
films.
None of the
home video
Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...
releases of their films feature any
deleted scenes. Lana says that despite often having to cut scenes from their movies, they do not want to include deleted scenes in such releases, as this would suggest that their films suffer from incompleteness. They love their finished products and believe them complete.
For the same reason, they have not released their films for home video with
director's or
extended cuts. They also avoid recording
audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
tracks, having participated only on the track recorded for the
LaserDisc
LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
of ''Bound''. The sisters say they learned that offering an interpretation of their films means that viewers will be less likely to express their own interpretation.
Frequent collaborators
The Wachowskis frequently hire the same basic
film crew
A film crew is a group of people, hired by a production company, for the purpose of Filmmaking, producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the Ensemble cast, cast, as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear ...
to make their movies. Lana says they do it in part to ensure a positive environment. "It's like family. Everyone is very respectful of each other," says Lana. They used the same practice while selecting the
television crew
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew, but with several differences.
Pre-production
: Work before shooting begins is called the pre-production stage. The crew in this stage include the casting director, costume de ...
for their
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
show, ''
Sense8''.
Some of their most notable frequent collaborators are:
Crew members
Cast member
Film production and comic book publishing

During ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'', ''
The Animatrix'' and ''
Enter the Matrix
''Enter the Matrix'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The first game based on ''The Matrix'' film series, its story is concurrent with that of the ...
'' production, the Wachowskis created EON Entertainment (not to be confused with
Eon Productions
Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.
''James Bond'' films
Eon wa ...
), their production company to coordinate and direct all involved partners. It is also where the films were edited together, after the various
FX vendors sent their finished work.
EON's internal VFX team, ESC, did a number of visual effect shots for the two ''Matrix'' sequels and coordinated the other vendors.
ESC was shut down in summer 2004. Anarchos Productions (credited in ''Cloud Atlas'' as Anarchos Pictures) is their production company that has been billed for all their films starting with ''V for Vendetta'' up to the first season of ''Sense8''. In the second season and following Lilly's break from the show, Anarchos is replaced by Venus Castina Productions, a production company created by Lana Wachowski and her wife Karin Winslow.
Venus Castina is an epithet of the Roman goddess Venus, who in this form, was supposedly associated with "the yearnings of feminine souls locked up in male bodies". In the ''Sense8'' series finale, the real book ''Venus Castina: Famous Female Impersonators Celestial and Human'' makes an appearance as the unlikely object that brought a lesbian couple together; according to Lana and the actresses that portray the couple, the duo have been based on Lana and Karin.
''Kinowerks'' is their pre- and post-production and effects studio, based in the
Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago. It has been acclaimed for its
green-friendly design, including solar panels, a planted roof, countertops and floors made of recycled materials, plug-in car stations, a water reuse and filtration system, skylights, and a pneumatic elevator.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
was invited to watch a restored print of ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'' in the ''Kinowerks'' facilities and met the Wachowskis, but he was oblivious to the fact the studio belonged to them. According to the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
''s Christopher Pirelli, the facility is very low-key: "an industrial building that appears neither old nor especially new" and "It could be an upscale dentist's office" while the "inside is rather unexpected" and has numerous mementos of past film projects. On October 22, 2018, the Wachowskis announced their plans to close and list ''Kinowerks'' for $5 million.
In 2003, they created
Burlyman Entertainment and released comic books based on ''The Matrix'' as well as two original bi-monthly series:
* ''
Shaolin Cowboy'' – created, written, and drawn by
Geof Darrow
Geofrey "Geof" Darrow (born October 21, 1955) is an American comic book artist, best known for his work on comic series ''Shaolin Cowboy'', ''Hard Boiled (comics), Hard Boiled'' and ''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'', which was adapted into ...
(the Wachowskis contributed the opening dialogue to each issue)
* ''
Doc Frankenstein'' – created by Geof Darrow and
Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowskis, with art by Skroce.
Unrealized projects
The Wachowskis' first script was a thriller called ''Carnivore''.
It has been described as "a
Corman-style, low-budget horror movie that dealt with
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
or, more specifically, rich people being eaten by cannibals".
The writing was well received and the script achieved notice for the duo;
however, interest in making the movie was low, for executives told them: "This is a bad idea. I can't make this. I'm rich."
Years later, on April 6, 1999, a week after ''The Matrix'' opened in American theaters, ''
Variety'' reported
Trimark was looking to buy the script and were in talks with
George A. Romero to direct it with production scheduled to begin in August. In April 2001, news of the Wachowskis producing it for
Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to:
Gates
*Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...
and looking for a director surfaced again, and in August 2003 a second time, with their go-to cinematographer
Bill Pope
Bill Pope, A.S.C. (born June 19, 1952) is an American cinematographer known for his collaborations with directors Sam Raimi, The Wachowskis and Edgar Wright. He has also photographed and directed numerous music videos for artists like Chris Isaak ...
rumored to be making his directorial debut with it. The film ultimately went unproduced.
Another two of their earliest scripts which were never produced were ''Plastic Man'', based on the DC Comics
superhero of the same name and ''Vertical Run'' based on the book of the same name by
Joseph R. Garber.
After completing ''The Matrix'', the Wachowskis were looking to make an animated adaptation of
Frank Miller's ''
Hard Boiled'' graphic novel.
The comic was drawn by Geof Darrow, the conceptional designer of ''The Matrix'' and later its sequels. The project didn't move forward because Miller didn't want it to be an animated film.
In November 2000, ''Variety'' reported the Wachowskis would produce, co-create and direct second unit on a new ''
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...
'' movie for Warner Bros. which was to be written and directed by
John Milius
John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is considered a member of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers.
He rose to prominence in the early 1970s for writing the scripts for ''The L ...
and which could see
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
make an appearance. The Wachowskis were planning to juggle their pre-production involvement on the movie and work on ''The Matrix'' sequels at the same time. In January 2004 it was reported that development on ''King Conan: Crown of Iron'' had stalled for years because of the Wachowskis' involvement in ''The Matrix'' sequels and now that the movies were complete they decided to abandon the project of their own volition because of the frequent clashes they had experienced with Milius concerning the tone and direction of the movie. Lana once suggested ''
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...
'' as her favorite movie based on comics, to which Lilly also responded enthusiastically.
In 2008,
the Wachowskis were producing for
Madhouse an animated film based on their
comic book company's ''Shaolin Cowboy'', titled ''Shaolin Cowboy in The Tomb of Doom''.
The feature is co-directed by the comic book's creator Geof Darrow and
Seiji Mizushima
is a Japanese anime director who is known for such series as ''Shaman King'', ''Fullmetal Alchemist (TV series), Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam 00'', ''Un-Go'', ''Concrete Revolutio'', and ''Beatless''. His first directorial film pr ...
, a Japanese director.
When the American financiers backed out, the film was left half-finished and in need of $3 million. Darrow does not believe that the required amount of money to finish it will be found.
In December 2009,
Arianna Huffington tweeted pictures of herself on the set of "a Wachowskis movie on Iraq from the perspective of the future". ''
CHUD.com'' reported what the Wachowskis were doing was camera tests and shooting of test footage on the
Red digital camera for a future movie, but not shooting the movie itself. In March 2010,
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...
said he had also shot for the project right before Huffington. Both of them were dressed as people from roughly 100 years in the future and they were asked to improvise without a script about the
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. In May 2010, ''Deadline'' reported the movie was going to be a hard-R story that would begin in the future but move back to the then-current war in Iraq and center on the homosexual relationship between an American soldier and an Iraqi. The Wachowskis completed the script and were searching for funding to direct it. In July 2010, the movie was reported to have begun casting under the codename ''CN9'' (or ''CN-9''), and in August 2010 the full name was revealed as ''Cobalt Neural 9''. In September 2010, ''Vulture'' posted additional details about the script and revealed the movie would be told in
found footage-style from the perspective of
digital archaeologists from the future. An estimated $20 million budget was reported although they were told a studio would "never, ever" finance it but perhaps the Wachowskis could do it themselves. In December 2010, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote that
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
and
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...
had also shot talking head sequences along with the previously reported involvement of Huffington and Ventura but the Wachowskis were looking into other movies because of troubles financing it.
In September 2012,
Aleksandar Hemon wrote about the making of ''Cloud Atlas'' and recalled he too was one of the people the Wachowskis had invited to interview in December 2009, to help inspire the script of ''Cobalt Neural 9''.
The last update on the film was in October 2012, when the Wachowskis were asked about it and they responded they were still keen to make it, because they had invested both financially ($5 million) and emotionally into it, even if that ends up being in a different form than film.
In December 2010, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that the Wachowskis were planning to direct for Warner Bros. a script of theirs called ''Hood'', which was a modern adaptation of the
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
legend. The Wachowskis were said to be reaching out to actors, including
Will Smith
Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
.
Personal lives
Lilly married Alisa Blasingame in 1991. In 2016, Lilly mentioned having a boyfriend.
In 2019, she said Mickey Ray Mahoney was now her partner and that they had moved in together. Mahoney is an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a
trans man
A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...
.

Lana married Thea Bloom in 1993. Following the release of ''The Matrix'', Lana began attending the Los Angeles
BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...
club The Dungeon, where she met Karin Winslow, who worked there as a
dominatrix
A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...
under the name Ilsa Strix. Bloom divorced Lana in 2002 after discovering the relationship. Lana and Karin made their first public appearance together at the premiere of ''The Matrix Reloaded'' in 2003, and married in 2009.
Winslow is a board member of the Chicago House and Social Service Agency.
Raised by a "hardcore
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
" father and an "ex-
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
turned
Shamanist" mother,
the duo once described their religious beliefs as
non-denominational
A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination.
The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...
.
Lana is a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
. During the
Democratic Party presidential primaries of 2016, ''
The Advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law.
The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to:
Magazines
* The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States
* ''The Harvard Advocate' ...
'' posted a video message of Lana talking about why she would be supporting
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
.
Lana's transition
Rumors that Lana Wachowski was
transitioning spread in the early 2000s, though neither sister spoke directly on the subject at the time.
In 2003, ''
Gothamist
''Gothamist'' is a New York City–centric blog operated by New York Public Radio. From 2003 to 2018, Gothamist LLC was the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, an ...
'' reported the possible transition. In a 2007 interview,
Joel Silver
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer.
Life and career
Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School ...
, the producer of numerous Wachowski films, said that the rumors concerning the transition were "all untrue", saying that "they just don't do interviews, so people make things up." Crew members working on ''Speed Racer'' said similar things.
Lana publicly revealed her transition after ''Speed Racer''s release in 2008 and by at least December 2010, after which trade magazines and newspapers began to refer to her as "Lana Wachowski",
and to the duo as "Andy and Lana Wachowski".
On some documents her name is shown as Laurenca Wachowski. In July 2012, Lana made her first public appearance after transitioning, in a video discussing the creative process behind ''Cloud Atlas''. Lana is the first major Hollywood director to come out as transgender.
In a September 2012 interview with
Aleksandar Hemon of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', Lana described an incident in third grade at her Catholic school where she was hesitant to join the boys' line and unconsciously accepted herself as belonging to the girls' line.
In October 2012, Lana Wachowski received the
Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...
's Visibility Award.
In her acceptance speech, she revealed that once during her youth, she had considered suicide because of her feelings of confusion about her
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...
. Her acceptance speech was one of the longest public appearances by either of the reclusive sisters. Lana said that, although she and Lilly had not publicly commented on her transitioning during the previous decade, it was not because she was ashamed of it, nor had she kept it a secret from her family and friends. Rather, she stated, the two are generally shy about the news media and prefer to maintain their privacy. Comparing media exposure to losing one's virginity as an irreversible event that only happens once, the Wachowskis had tried to stay out of the public eye. They feared losing their privacy and the ability to go to public places without being noticed and harassed as celebrities.
Explaining her decision to appear at the HRC event, Lana said:
There are some things we do for ourselves, but there are some things we do for others. I am here because when I was young, I wanted very badly to be a writer, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I couldn't find anyone like me in the world and it felt like my dreams were foreclosed simply because my gender was less typical than others. If I can be that person for someone else, then the sacrifice of my private civic life may have value.
In February 2014, Lana received the Freedom Award from
Equality Illinois at their annual gala in Chicago.
Lilly's transition
In March 2016, Lilly Wachowski also came out as a transgender woman, issuing a statement to the ''
Windy City Times'' after a visit from a reporter from the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' newspaper who had attempted to get an interview with her about it.
In that article, she said, "I am one of the lucky ones. Having the support of my family and the means to afford doctors and therapists has given me the chance to actually survive this process. Transgender people without support, means and privilege do not have this luxury. And many do not survive."
Her first public appearance since beginning transitioning was a few weeks later, at the
27th GLAAD Media Awards, where she accepted an award for her Netflix series ''Sense8'' for Outstanding Drama Series. She said, "I didn't feel obligated to be here, but I wanted to do something. And it's serendipitous that the awards were a couple of weeks later and our show was up for an award."
Gaming
The Wachowskis are self-proclaimed
gamer
A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...
s. As teens, they spent their weekends in the attic playing ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
''.
They liken the process of their gaming sessions to their process of filmmaking. Along with some of their friends, they wrote a 350-page
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
of their own called ''High Adventure''.
On the video game front, they had been exchanging letters with
Hideo Kojima
is a Japanese video game designer. Regarded as one of the pioneering auteurs of video games, he developed a strong passion for film and literature during his childhood and adolescence, which in turn has had a significant influence on his game ...
and met him during a ''
Famitsu
, formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' interview in late 1999. ''
Metal Gear Solid'' was the first video game they played after finishing work on ''The Matrix''. Candidates for an adaptation of the first ''Matrix'' movie to video game form included Kojima,
Bungie
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington, and a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones (programme ...
and
Shiny Entertainment, whose ''
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
''
PC game
A personal computer game, or abbreviated PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer (PC). The term ''PC game'' has been popularly used since the 1990s referring specifically to games on "Wintel" (Micr ...
impressed them.
Shiny's
David Perry, who ultimately had his company develop and collaborate with them on the ''
Enter the Matrix
''Enter the Matrix'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The first game based on ''The Matrix'' film series, its story is concurrent with that of the ...
'' and ''
The Matrix: Path of Neo'' video games, was impressed with their familiarity with the medium; this proved helpful during development. The Wachowskis owned both a
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally ...
and played several games such as ''
Splinter Cell'' and ''
Halo 2
''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclai ...
''.
They reportedly destroyed their Xbox during a ''Halo''
deathmatch.
Actor
Collin Chou
Collin Chou (born 11 August 1967), sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist.
Personal life
Chou attended Pierce Community College in Los Angeles, United States. In addition to his native Mandarin Chinese, Mand ...
recounts an instance of visiting their office and finding them playing video games on the floor. Lilly is a fan of the ''
Death Jr.''
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
game.
Asked about their feelings about turning the tightly controlled ''Matrix'' saga to the unpredictable form of an
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
with ''
The Matrix Online'', the duo appeared enthusiastic about the nature and possibilities of video games:
Box office
Works
Films
Television
Video games
Comic books
Music videos
''
The Art of the Matrix'' book credits them for including their screenplay and additional art. The Wachowskis also wrote an introduction to the 2005 published ''
Vol. 2: Tag''
trade paperback of ''
Ex Machina'' comic book, being big fans of it. Additionally Lana Wachowski wrote the introduction to the 2012 published ''
No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics'' collection of
LGBTQ
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
comic book stories.
Additionally classifying themselves as "lifelong rabid Bulls fans" they created a revamped introductory animation for
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
to open the
2006–2007 regular season.
See also
*
List of transgender film and television directors
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachowski
Living people
20th-century American screenwriters
21st-century American screenwriters
21st-century American women writers
American action film directors
American comics writers
American film producers
American people of Polish descent
American video game directors
American women film directors
American women screenwriters
English-language film directors
American LGBTQ film directors
LGBTQ people from Illinois
LGBTQ film producers
LGBTQ comics creators
American science fiction film directors
Screenwriting duos
American showrunners
Sibling filmmakers
American transgender women
American video game writers
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni
Women and video games
American women science fiction and fantasy writers
Writers from Chicago
Marvel Comics people
American women film producers
Screenwriters from Illinois
American women television producers
American women television writers
American female comics writers
Filmmaking duos
American television writers
1965 births
1967 births
LGBTQ television directors
LGBTQ television producers
Postmodernist filmmakers
American transgender writers