Carrie-Anne Moss never knew her success would be so sweet.
"I have to be honest and tell you I never planned to have the kind of career that I have," Moss said in a phone interview Friday. "I didn't strategically say, 'Okay, I want to do big action movies' or whatever."
She may not have planned it, but she's certainly accomplished it. Since her breakthrough performance as Trinity in 1999's blockbuster flick The Matrix, Moss has been one of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood.
"I knew The Matrix would be an amazing movie and I knew that people would really respond to it, because there was just a certain energy around it," she said. "But I also tried to detach myself as much as possible from the outcome -- so the outcome was truly a surprise. It continues to be a surprise because people still come up to me and talk to me about the different principles in the movie and the different ideas. At the same time, I knew it was going to be something special. I just didn't know to what extent."
The impact has been shattering, propelling her to cult status. And while she often gets recognized in public, every now and then she slips by unnoticed.
"I bought one (of the Trinity Matrix dolls) for my husband. The saleslady asked me if he had a crush on her and I said, 'Yeah, I think he does.' She didn't recognize me, it was pretty funny," Moss said, laughing.
According to Moss, her role in The Matrix has greatly impacted her life.
"My life has changed a lot, and really for the better. First of all, professionally it's changed to such a degree where I've had such opportunities that I would never have had before The Matrix. And, for that I'm super, super grateful," Moss said.
But as the saying goes, the more things change the more they stay the same.
"My life has changed and it's also simplified at the same time. It's like I could have gotten really overwhelmed by all of the demands that come with what I do. But I've really simplified everything to make my life as normal and real as I can," she said. "It's all been really, really exciting. It's certainly what I've dreamed of my whole life. You kind of realize that when you get a dream, you have to set new ones."
Some of those new dreams include enjoying quiet moments at home with her dogs and spending more time with her family (Moss said her mother was seated beside her during this interview).
It's easy to see why she's hungry for some down time: with four movies coming out in 2000 alone (The Crew, Red Planet, Momento and now Chocolat) the actress has a lot on her plate.
And while shooting for parts two and three of The Matrix doesn't begin until March, Moss is already hard at work to prepare for her role.
"I've been training for a couple of months just to get in shape. And (the cast) is all training together now to learn all the different action sequences in the film. That will take about six months before we shoot. And then we'll be training the whole time (while we film)," she said.
Her grueling regime includes exercises to improve endurance and flexibility, as well as martial arts instructions.
"You name it, we're doing it," she said.
However, Moss doesn't mind the hard work.
"I love The Matrix a lot, and I feel very lucky and blessed to be part of it. And I really believe in it, so it's a joy for me."
That's a good thing, since "it's taking up pretty much my entire life."
And for, now, at least, her "life" is top secret. The scripts for the highly-anticipated Matrix follow-ups are being kept under wraps, and Moss wasn't at liberty to give any hints.
"My lips are sealed, sorry. It's better for you not to know, because then you'll enjoy it so much when you watch it," she offered. "I wish I didn't know, so I could be surprised," she said, laughing.
She was, however, eager to discuss her role in Lasse Hallström's upcoming art film, Chocolat, which debuts in limited release Dec. 15.
"I loved making this movie. I've always dreamt of being in a beautiful, heartfelt, stunning, moving film. And this is definitely a film like that," she gushed.
Filming on location for Chocolat also proved to be a wonderful experience.
"This particular movie was such a joy to make because we were, first of all, in the most beautiful locations you could imagine in France and in England," she said. "The group of people were so wonderful to be around, really creative. And Lasse Hallström is really such an amazing director and an amazing person. This was certainly a wonderful experience."
According to Moss, she was able to relate to many of the aspects of her character, Caroline.
"I think she has protected her heart from being open and has controlled her life in such a way that she can't be hurt again. And yet she is able to have a transformation. I think we all can relate to moments when we feel a little beat up by life or we can't be that open, and yet, for me, anyway, I try to keep open. And sometimes it's a struggle," she said.
Chocolat had the Matrix star acting alongside Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench, who portrays her mother.
"Can you believe that?" Moss asked, sounding awestruck. "She's so incredible. I watched the film the other day, and she just blows me away. She's one of my favorite actresses. Who knows what she does, she's just so brilliant at it."
Moss said she greatly enjoyed not only working with Dench, but also getting to know her on a personal level.
"I did learn a great deal from her, in the sense that she's a really lovely person and a really warm and open woman," she said. "To me that's much more interesting than whether someone's a good actor or not."
Being around such greatness has helped Moss to realize a few things.
"The one thing that I've really learnt from working with the people I've worked with over the last few years in my career is that people are people," she said. "Just because they're big movie stars doesn't mean they're not just ordinary people like you and me."
Carrie-Anne Moss ordinary? Not quite how most would describe her, that's for sure.
