From The Matrix to Yaga, Carrie-Anne Moss still believes rejection can open the right door

Carrie-Anne Moss seduces Hudson Williams in Yaga

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Carrie-Anne Moss had just opened one of her favourite books to a chapter about Baba Yaga when an offer arrived to join the new series, Yaga.

The timing felt like a sign.

In an interview with CBC's Eli Glasner, Moss said she has owned Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés since 1999, and the chapter's subject echoed the project in front of her.

"I take those kinds of things quite literally," Moss said. "Things like that have always guided my life."

Created by Canadian playwright Kat Sandler, Yaga is a dark mystery-thriller adapted from her 2019 stage play. 

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Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek) stars as private investigator Charlie Rapp, who sets out to find missing heir Henry Park, played by Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry). In the fictional coastal town of Whittock, the case begins to echo the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga — an enigmatic figure whose hut is said to stand on chicken legs, and whose intentions can be as unpredictable as her power.

Sandler sent Moss a letter explaining why she wanted her for the role of Katherine Hargrove, a professor drawn to younger men. Moss read the letter, Sandler's pitch and the scripts before deciding to take the part.

Carrie-Anne Moss stars as Prof. Katherine Hargrove in the mystery-thriller series, Yaga. (Christopher Lawrence/Crave)

Filming in Victoria has brought Moss back to British Columbia, where she grew up. She used to spend summers on the island with her aunt and uncle, helping care for their children.

'I always wanted to be an actress'

Moss grew up in Burnaby and later lived with her mother in Granville Island while attending high school. She remembers taking the bus on her own to see the school plays, musicals and performing arts group that toured Vancouver and gave her early chances to perform.

"I always wanted to be an actress," she told CBC News. Watching television helped spark that ambition. Moss said she felt deeply invested in the shows and the emotions they stirred in her. 

"I'm crying because of what they're doing, I'm laughing because of what they're doing. Like, I want to do that."

Acting felt less like a calculated career plan than a purpose she had found early, Moss said. She sang in choirs, wrote plays and musicals — she loved performing.

"It was actually very innocent and beautiful," Moss said.

"I hope for that kind of desire in someone's soul … to feel that that's your purpose."

Moss attends a promotional event for the television series Models Inc. on June 24, 1994 in Santa Monica, Calif. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Move to L.A. 'not always easy,' she says

That ambition took Moss from Vancouver to Toronto, where she worked as a model, and then to Europe.

While living in Barcelona, she landed her first major role on the television series Dark Justice (1991-93), a crime drama about a judge who moonlights as a vigilante. Moss played the judge's legal clerk Tara McDonald.

When the show moved to Los Angeles, Moss went with it.

That move was difficult. Moss said she had little money, few friends and no green card, which meant securing a visa whenever she worked. She rented a room from comedian Pat Bullard, the ex-husband of her manager at the time, and relied on the opportunities that came her way.

Still, she never considered going home. Moss said she had asked herself whether her desire to act came from ego or a wish to be famous, and concluded it was a genuine calling.

"I believed that with the purity of that intention that it would open for me," she said. "It was not always easy."

That belief was tested when she was let go from a television series after two seasons. The rejection hurt and left Moss questioning what came next. 

By 1997, Moss was auditioning for the role that would change her career. Her final screen test for Trinity in The Matrix took place that August — on her 30th birthday — with Keanu Reeves, who was recovering from neck surgery and wearing a brace.

Moss went through several callbacks but didn't expect to land what would become her breakout role of Trinity. Her agent cautioned her not to get too excited. She said she chose to celebrate each audition as it came, treating the opportunity as something worth appreciating on its own.

When the call finally came, she told CBC News, "I think I fell to my knees."

Looking back, Moss sees the television rejection as what made the audition possible. She said the experience has also shaped how she talks with her children about disappointment.

"When one door closes you have to trust it," she said. "You can feel your feelings, cry about it, be upset about it. But you have to know that you will look back and you will say that was meant to be."

Moss 'cried' 1st time she watched The Matrix

Preparing for The Matrix meant four months of martial arts training alongside Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving. The intense preparation brought the cast close, Moss said, and she came to think of them as her "family."

Still, she couldn't picture how the film's camera movements, colour and composition would come together until she saw the finished movie.

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"The first time I saw it, I cried," she said.

It was difficult, at first, to watch herself on the big screen. It took a few viewings before she could look past her own performance and take in the film as a whole.

The role made Moss an international name. Since then, she has appeared in films including Memento (2000), Chocolat (2000) and Snow Cake (2006) and returned to the franchise in 2021's The Matrix Resurrections. 

She has also stepped away from work at times to raise her children. "I have loved raising my children more than anything. ... It was really a no-brainer for me."

Moss, centre, and sons Owen Roy, left, and Kaden Roy, right, attend a Star Wars premiere in Los Angeles on Dec. 9, 2017. (Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Moss and her family now live in New Hampshire, after decades in Los Angeles. She said she wanted a quieter life — and to "see the stars at night."

Moss not a fan of AI

But leaving Hollywood hasn't meant the leaving the creative world. Moss said she's thinking about the future of her work and the role of human creativity, and she's concerned about what artificial intelligence could mean for artists and storytelling.

"Not a fan," Moss said. She adds that using AI in her own writing can make her feel as if part of her creativity shuts off.

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Moss said she tries not to let fear take over.

She said she sees storytelling as a way to build empathy and connection. She also said the changes brought by AI raise deeper questions about what people value and what they might lose.

"I feel it's a spiritual battle, personally," she said.

For now, she is focused on the choices in front of her — including a return to the province where she grew up, and a role that seemed to find her at just the right time.