What happened to The Matrix stars next – from sex addiction to tragic death & lawsuit after being ‘written out’

THE Matrix is back - but where are the heroes from the cult hit original?

Only Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss have returned for the fourth movie Matrix: Resurrections, which opens in cinemas on December 22.

Leading the brave resistance against the machines as Morpheus in the 1999 sci-fi classic, Laurence Fishburne was surprised not to receive a call to come back for the reboot.

But it was no shock that Marcus Chong - who played his shipmate Tank - didn’t receive an invite after being written out of the sequels over a pay dispute.

Another star overcame drugs abuse, one almost died and a fan favourite sadly passed away while making the second film.

Here we look at where the Matrix rebels are now.

Joe Pantoliano (Cypher)

The man who played the Judas figure in The Matrix got hooked on sex and prescription drugs.

Joe Pantoliano 70, has written two books about his struggles with depression after getting clean and founded an organisation called No Kidding, Me Too! to help others. 

The New Jersey-born actor, who also starred in the 1983 Tom Cruise hit Risky Business, appeared in Bad Boys For Life with Will Smith last year.

He said: “As a young man, I lied my way out of all kinds of situations. So acting seemed a natural segue into a future where you could make a living out of lying.”

Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus)

Hollywood star Laurence Fishburne is in the dark over why he wasn’t asked to return for the latest Matrix movie.

The actor, 60, who portrayed the sage-like leader of the resistance in three of the dystopian movies, said “I don’t have an answer” for why director Lana Wachowski didn’t call him.

Three years ago he divorced his second wife Gina Torres, 52, who appeared in the second and third Matrix movies.

She admitted telling Fishburne “good luck with that” when he described the plot of the first film.

Fishburne, whose acting CV includes classics such as Apocalypse Now, The Colour Purple and Boyz n the Hood, has several projects coming up - including starring alongside Keanu in John Wick 4.

Marcus Chong (Tank)

Marcus Chong was so outraged about being replaced by another actor for the two Matrix sequels that he sued the film company making them.

The 54-year-old, whose dad Tommy Chong starred in the famous stoner Cheech and Chong movies, claimed he was contracted to appear in three of the sci-fi flicks.

However, according to a Reuters report, industry sources said the actor made repeated phone calls of a harassing nature to filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski after his salary demands were not met.

As a result they decided to write his character Tank, the operator of the rebel Nebuchadnezzar ship, out of the scripts and put Harold Perrineau Jr as a character called Link.

Marcus hasn’t appeared on TV for over a decade and his most recent movie was in 2005.

Anthony Ray Parker (Dozer)

Anthony Ray Parker had to deal with the fallout of his son Joseph taking part in an online group that boasted about having sex with drunken, underage girls.

In 2013 Joseph Parker was dismissed from his job as an estate agent in New Zealand after his involvement with a vile social media group called Roast Busters.

Anthony, 63, played Dozer, who was the pilot of the Nebuchadnezzar and brother of Tank.

Last year he had a lead role in an Eric Roberts movie called Lone Star Deception and he has a few B movies coming up.

Anthony was born in the United States, but lives and works in New Zealand.

Julian Arahanga (Apoc)

New Zealand actor Julian Arahanga almost died a decade ago.

Last year Julian, 50, revealed: “I have a bowel disease and in 2012 my bowel burst and I was rushed to Wellington Hospital and almost died.”

Having been nursed back to health by his long time partner Becs he decided to propose to the 44-year-old film producer - and now runs a movie production company with her.

The father-of-five believes that playing rebel Apoc in The Matrix massively boosted his career.