Ellen Hollman Becomes Trinity, Fangirls Over Keanu Reeves, And Learns From The Matrix Resurrections - Exclusive Interview

The first scenes of "The Matrix Resurrections" are, for a time, nearly a shot-for-shot recreation of the opening scene of "The Matrix." We see police and eventually agents approach Trinity in a room and try to arrest her before she does The Coolest Stunts In The Entire World. This turns out to be a simulation seen, and eventually participated in, by Bugs (Jessica Henwick). In fact, it's such a thorough simulation that even the audience probably isn't aware that Carrie-Anne Moss isn't playing Trinity. That would be actress Ellen Hollman.

Hollman's time in "Resurrections" is brief, but pivotal. She certainly shares a resemblance to Moss, a big part of which is thanks to the movie's phenomenal hair and makeup team. Even though the scene is short, it still took weeks – even months – to prepare. Hollman's husband, Stephen Dunlevy, is a prominent stuntman and stunt coordinator – part of the fabled 87eleven team – who also worked on "Resurrections." As such, she was able to stick around for much of the behind-the-scenes action.

Looper spoke with Hollman about her role in "Resurrections." She told us about the prep work, what Moss and Keanu Reeves are really like off set, and working with her husband in ways you wouldn't expect.

I went in knowing who you'd play. But when I first saw this, I saw you, and I thought, "That looks a lot like Carrie-Anne Moss!"

Well, that is not accidental! [Laughs] That is not accidental at all. In fact, rest assured, that is a very large aspect of how I've managed to get caps in this film, and that's why I was so excited to see all these trailers drop, [because] I nearly made every single trailer. And the audience at this point, even as we speak here on ... What's the date here? December 16th. People still don't know in these trailers that it's me, they just assume that it's her, and that is inside the brilliant mind of Lana Wachowski. That was always her intention, that you keep thinking it's her. Even in the casting process, Lana was very specific. At first, I didn't know what character I was going to be auditioning for, but the supervising stunt coordinator I've known for years called me in, and the entire action design team is 87eleven, which is essentially my family.

They've been a part of my family for many years. My husband's one of their stunt coordinators, he does the "John Wick" franchise, [and] he just wrapped "John Wick 4." As a martial artist, I've played on the nets with them for many years, and I've learned a lot of their tricks. Chad Stahelski, who's at the helm of 87eleven along with David Leitch, he's one of my mentors. Not just in the film and television industry, but also as a jujitsu professor, he's taught me, I would say, 75% of what I know. When I went in there for this alleged audition, it was [understood] that I was a very specific height, very specific features, very specific energy, and something that she was quite adamant about. It's that you can look the part, but can you be the part? So, what I thought was going to be an audition, it was essentially just an hour-long heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul conversation with Lana Wachowski.

I couldn't even believe it. It was such an out-of-body experience, because the pre-production office was located at 87eleven, and I was constantly in there anyway. I already felt comfortable in that environment, so she was essentially in my playground, and she could see the camaraderie between myself [and the rest of the crew]. She didn't mention anything about the role, we just talked about life, and as it turns out, we have so much more in common than we could have ever anticipated, and at the end of our hour-long powwow, she gave me this incredible embrace, and she said, "Welcome to the family."

So you've spoken about meeting Lana. I know you don't actually share a scene, but did you meet Carrie-Anne Moss at any point?

Oh my God, absolutely. Carrie-Anne. So, one of the other incredible aspects of Lana is that there is no separation between past. It doesn't matter if you share the screen together. You all train together, you all stretch together, you all have meals together, you are part of the family. She's very big on family, even in the production tent. So, half of my work is done in San Francisco, the other half in Berlin. And in San Francisco, there was an entire airport hangar that was ours, and it was essentially the Matrix circus. There was this massive tent ... That's where we ate lunch, that's where there were couches, and lamps, and music constantly playing where people could lounge, and nap, and congregate. That's where a lot of production chats that happened.

Then you had the mats, which, I say "mats" casually, but this is like a whole full-on gym that they designed. Keanu, Carrie-Anne, Jon Groff, Yahya, Jess, Eréndira, all of us would congregate, we would do our morning routines together, stretches, training. And Carrie-Anne is such an essential part of this, as is Keanu, and I'll never forget one of the first moments we had with each other, where I was sitting in the hair and makeup trailer. This is such a surreal moment, it's one of those other moments where I'm like, "I'm going to remember this the rest of my life. How is this happening right now? This is incredible!"

I was sitting in the hair and makeup trailer. To my left is Keanu with Alexandra, his girlfriend, who is awesome. He's listening to his hardcore rock music and getting his hair done, I'm sitting in the chair, and then beside me is Carrie-Anne, getting her hair done. I don't know if you know this, but I have long, past the chest length, curly blonde hair. I'm German, so I'm very blonde hair, green-eyed, and I've had it my entire life, this long, blonde, cascading hair. For the role [in this film], I had to chop off all my hair and dye it black, as in, my hair is not just black, it is like a black hole, a succubus, that is how black this hair was. When I was sitting in the hair chair, our head of makeup ... What they do is they put your hair in a ponytail and they chop it off. She put my hair in a ponytail and I felt like I was about to go into the guillotine, [Laughs] because as a woman, your hair is like an extension of you, it is part of your identity, and that is something that I was willing to sacrifice.

These movies are famous for really innovative stunts, and obviously they're a lot different than, say, the "John Wick" stunts. They're a lot more Hong Kong, I guess you could say.

Right, it's heightened reality.

When you're doing things like running on the walls, what's that like for you?

Yeah, the challenge behind this is that I don't have an extensive background in such detailed wire work. I've jumped off of castle ramparts in Romania on descender cranes, I've done jerk vests and things like this, but this was complicated, because it's such a brilliant engineering feat to have a human run sideways, because that is not the way gravity works. So, we had Ralph Hagar, which was the German team, and then my husband is actually one of the stunt coordinators on "Matrix," and also one of the rigging coordinators. His background is engineering, and he's an incredible rigger, so there's a lot of trust already there, because your life is in their hands. And we had such an incredibly skilled action design team, that from the fight choreography to the wire work, I trusted [all of them] ... They were my girls, my boys. We flipped each other over one another's head for seven years now, in judo. So I'm like, "Okay, I trust you to put some wires on me."

But it took ... I was there to train ahead of time, nearly four to six weeks, my God, it's such a blur. Nearly four to six weeks, because to be able to seamlessly ... It's funny, because it's just a few moments on screen, but Carrie-Anne Moss, of course, did it seamlessly. So it's like, "Well girl, you better do this, you better do this seamlessly as well." Because not only do you have to remember all your choreography with fervor, you also have to propel yourself onto a wall, and then at the same exact time you're motivating yourself, they're loosening the wires in order to accommodate your movement, and then you're also jumping onto another wall. It's something that takes countless hours in order for that precision to come across seamlessly on screen.

Believe it or not, that was actually some of the hardest wire work. It's just a lot of timing, it's just really muscles that you've never used before are necessary. So, in rehearsal that was one of the trickiest things to do, yet on the day, we got it in like two takes, we were actually like, "Wow, we blocked out like two hours, but we did it in like 15 minutes." I'm like, "Cool, what do we do now?" We did it. I'm so obsessive with preparation, I'm sure I drive my husband nuts. Just when you think you've got it, I'll do it a hundred more times, so that I eat, sleep, and breathe it, because choreography is dialogue without words. You can spend just as much time memorizing that choreography, or that dialogue, per se, as you do what's written on a page.

You dove into it a little bit, but you clearly know Keanu Reeves. You say he's a friend of your husband, 87eleven, he's a big part of that. Just tell me a little bit about Keanu Reeves specifically, I know you told me about the hair thing, but what's he like as a person? I've heard nothing but good things.

Keanu Reeves is not someone who desires attention, does not desire the limelight, he does not desire acknowledgement nor does he desire accolades. He is by far the most humble artist that I have ever had the honor of meeting. As a fellow performer, who's been in the industry over 20 years, I can say that his heart and his kindness are what has allowed him to become the megastar that he is today. He doesn't have the type of energy that draws you to him, because he doesn't want that. For example, we have the table read, and I was walking down the hallway, and I just felt this shoulder brush next to me, and I look over, and it's just Keanu! I'm like, "How you doing bud, great table read!" He's like, "Oh yeah, no. I just had a really good time."

You don't notice him. If that sounds like a strange thing to say, he's not this succubus. Wven on the mats, even if I'm just sparring with some of the 87 boys, or with Chad. Ironically, Chad Stahelski was his double in the original "Matrix," and now the director of the "John Wick" franchise, which is also an incredible full-circle situation. You'll be on the mats cooling down, and right next to you is Keanu, stretching. He always wears his woven hat, a winter hat, — even in the dead of summer, he wears his hat. And all of a sudden you look, and he's right next to you, you don't even notice.

I want to read something to you. Earlier this year, I spoke with Donnie Yen, which is an amazing name drop.

Yes!

When I asked him about "John Wick 4," he said, "I can tell you I'm having a wonderful time. Keanu Reeves is a wonderful soul, gentleman, best guy I ever worked with, just a great guy, same as Chad."

Aww.

He also said that Chad really understands action sequences better than anybody else, so the work you guys are doing at 87eleven is phenomenal. I think you guys are the best stunt team in America right now.

They really are. And I have so much respect for stunt men and women. They're the first ones in, last ones out, and many times, they're like the shadow. They're the ones that elevate the material, yet your focus is your lead actor. Yet, those performances are not possible without these underdogs, and Chad has been doing this for, my God, I don't know how many decades. He's got like six black belts. He understands action, because he can do it. Everything he teaches, he also preaches, and he's capable of doing. That's what makes him stand out from the rest, because directors, a lot of times, have second units shoot all the action.

Chad would rather be tarred and feathered than have anyone shoot his action, because it is his. It is as much of the story as anything else. So in his opinion, he's like, "Why would I let someone direct a part of this story? It's my story." That's, in my opinion, what separates them from the rest. And that's why they've managed to be as successful as they are, and I will say, I'm not a stunt person. I'm an actress who does mixed martial arts and respects it wholeheartedly. I have learned and absorbed an endless myriad of tricks from what they've taught me, and I carry that forward through my career.

"The Matrix Resurrections" is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.