We had the pleasure of interviewing Chyna McCoy, who was Lawrence Fishburne’s stunt double, as Morpheus, in the first Matrix film. Fishburne wanted to do more of his stunt work in the sequels, but for the first film, it was a lot of Chyna McCoy. He also did a bit of work on The Matrix Reloaded, but we’ll let him tell you the story.
Matrix Fans: Who are you?
Chyna McCoy: Who am I, hmm, I haven’t found that yet when I find him I will let you know…(Laughing) but seriously, I’m a hyper-charged entity that loves diving head first into anything where my work is play especially dealing with Creating. I am a kicker, puncher, artist, dancer, gymnast. I am fun.
Matrix Fans: Tell us a bit about yourself.
Chyna McCoy: A little about me is like one of the hardest questions to answer. I mean, what do you, or can you. actually say about yourself when you as a person are forever evolving, growing and changing? It’s hard to keep up (laughing). But okay, here we go. I see myself and express myself as a creative nerd. I’m too funny, yet reserved. I always, or at most times, see myself as a reactionary person. I’m outgoing at times and I swear I am a big ass kid.
Matrix Fans: What Matrix films did you work on?
Chyna McCoy: I worked on the very first one, which changed the face of filmmaking. Then I did some of Reloaded which was fun.
Matrix Fans: IMDb credits you as Morpheus’ stunt double for the first film, but you’re also credited on Reloaded. Did you continue as the Morpheus stunts for that film?
Chyna McCoy: Actually, I did the full course in the first film, then came on as the utility stunts for the second, which was doing the CGI work for the Truck Fight scene. So I actually didn’t stay for the entire second film.
Matrix Fans: Are there any stories from The Matrix that you would like to share?
Chyna McCoy: Stories? WOW, there are so many. There was one moment where I was off work for the next day, and suddenly I get a call to come in, and I was questioning it because they said I had the next few days off. Well, what happened was they were doing the bathroom wall scene and decided to use one of their own Australian stuntmen to play Morpheus for that stunt. It didn’t work out. As I walked in I saw them carrying him out with a busted head. As it went, they made the wall too thick, which failed. Then they shaved it off some, and he only made an indentation, so they took too much off and he overshot the actor and there you have it. Did I do it? Yes I completed the stunt and never got hurt.
Matrix Fans: The bathroom scene sounds like it would have been crazy to see in the film. Making a wall too thick seems like it would be simple when going for realism. All of this stunt-work leads me to this: did you do much of the dojo scene or any of the Neo training sequences?
Chyna McCoy: The Dojo scene was fun but Laurence trained really hard to do as much as possible in that scene. The only thing I did in the dojo scene was the one-handed flip where I spin around then toss Neo on his back. Oh my goodness, I think we woke up around 3 am to be ready for that? Oh my goodness, you know what it’s like trying to do martial arts action stunts at that time?
Matrix Fans: What was the most difficult stunt that you had to perform in The Matrix?
Chyna McCoy: Stunts were fairly easy in Reloaded. Laurence was hellbent on doing his own. And I would say the most difficult would have been the helicopter scene [in The Matrix], because the training the harness and the force generated every time the helicopter took off made it difficult to maneuver myself into various positions the directors wanted.
Matrix Fans: The helicopter scene sounds like it was intense. How high up did you end up performing that stunt?
Chyna McCoy: The helicopter scene was truly intense. I was as high as the tallest building in Sydney, which was about 1000ft. This was my first amazing physical stunt of that magnitude which I had no formal training in.
Matrix Fans: How many times did you have to perform a stunt?
Chyna McCoy: You know I have never had to do a stunt over and over too often. I usually hit it on the head the first or second time around, but the majority of the time, the directors always want one more take. I should make a T-shirt out of that saying.
Matrix Fans: How do you prepare for stunts?
Chyna McCoy: Truthfully, I don’t ever prepare for stunts and here’s why. I have been so physical throughout my life that anything containing physicality requires no thought. I just get up there and make the action happen as long as I know what the action is.
Matrix Fans: What goes through your head as you’re doing the stunts?
Chyna McCoy: Honestly, I can say, with every stunt I always think I am some type of superhero or ancient Kung Fu hero. Which is funny because when my mind goes there, the stunt comes out way better.
If I do flying stunts, I pretend in my head I’m Goku from Dragonball Z. (Laughing).
Looking back on it, I really don’t think about it. For me, stunts are like second nature. And always, before a stunt or action happens, they usually say “tomorrow you’re throwing a planet.” I’m like “okay cool” and go on about my day, never thinking about upcoming stunts. Weird I know. I guess I have been doing action fighting and stunt activities around my neighborhood since I was a kid. It has become second nature.
Matrix Fans: You mentioned your childhood being full of stunts just around the neighborhood. Were any of your family members into stunt work?
Chyna McCoy: Well, when it came to my family, they were cartoon and martial arts lovers but I was the only “leap around, get banged up and flipping off rooftops” one.
Matrix Fans: Is there a question about doing stunts that you’ve never been asked, but always wished someone would ask?
Chyna McCoy: A great question. No one has ever asked me have I done stunts before The Matrix? They always say, what other stunts have you done besides which always pertain to after The Matrix, but never before The Matrix.
Matrix Fans: Okay, so what stunts did you do before The Matrix?
Chyna McCoy: Now before The Matrix, stunts was not in my arsenal. I was doing fights only. Stunts back then were considered high falls, car hits, etc. Fights were just fights.
Matrix Fans: What were the projects that you did prior to the Matrix that you feel best helped you prepare for it?
Chyna McCoy: To be honest, no project ever that I could even be considered help. Diving through walls, jumping out of skyscraper windows and flying around on the bottom of helicopters, no previous project could compare. But the smaller projects did help as far as fighting was concerned since they were all action based.
Matrix Fans: As a creative person, what projects have you worked on recently that you’ve been especially excited about?
Chyna McCoy: One of the most exciting projects I have worked on so far was an action hero film called Lazarus, which is still in post, and Bayne, a Hybrid supernatural hero who walks the earth battling Werewolves and Pale Ones.
Matrix Fans: What are you passionate about?
Chyna McCoy: What am I passionate about is right up there with what is the meaning of life (laughing). Hmmm… Creativity is my passion. Creating worlds, heroes, characters, entities, the works. Being part of a visual medium and bringing dreams into reality. But if you are speaking passion projects as well, the Bayne would be my baby, my passion project. I love Werewolves and Vampires.
Matrix Fans: What do you have lined up next?
Chyna McCoy: The next adventure i have lined up is my Bayne Legacy project. I play Bayne, a Hybrid who battles the creatures of legend in an apocalyptic world.
Matrix Fans: How did you get your start in the business?
Chyna McCoy: Now, this is the age old question, and the stories are always out of this world. For me trying to get into Hollywood goes back to the east coast and a car dealership where I was watching an action film of course.
Matrix Fans: What advice would you give to someone who dreams of doing stunts in movies?
Chyna McCoy: I would tell anyone chasing their dreams in Hollywood, train hard in every facet. Practice safety. Do your stunt homework, and most of all: Never give up because anyone can be a stunt-person if you give it everything you have.
Matrix Fans: Is there anything you would recommend avoiding when trying to get started in stunt work?
Chyna McCoy: I would tell newcomers the best thing to avoid, entering the stunt world, is thinking you already know the stunt world just because you fell off a skateboard or two. Respect Stunts and it’s power.
Matrix Fans: Are there any dream projects that you’d love to work on?
Chyna McCoy: If I had a dream project, it would probably have my passion project, Bayne, star in a Marvel or DC film as an indie character.
Matrix Fans: Would you consider returning to the world of The Matrix in any future spin-offs that Warner Brothers makes?
Chyna McCoy: Good question, if I had a return chance probably so. I would surely bring a more gritty, grimy spin to it.
Matrix Fans: Could you see yourself in the rumored young Morpheus film?
Chyna McCoy: I know for a fact I couldn’t play a young Morpheus, but 10 years ago I sure would have taken that offer.
Matrix Fans: Do you have social media accounts that people can follow you on?
Chyna McCoy: Facebook Fan Page & https://twitter.com/
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