Lana Wachowski
Co-creator of “The Matrix”, she became one of the first major Hollywood directors to come out as a trans woman.
Lana Wachowski grew up in Chicago with her younger sister Lilly; both loved comics, science fiction and philosophy. Together they wrote comics and screenplays, and in 1996 they directed their first film, “Bound”, a crime thriller about two women in love that became a lesbian cult classic.
Their second film, “The Matrix” (1999), revolutionised action cinema with its “bullet time” effects and its philosophical story about a world that is not what it seems. Two sequels followed in 2003, then “V for Vendetta” (as writers), “Speed Racer” and the epic “Cloud Atlas” (2012).
Lana Wachowski transitioned in the 2000s and spoke about it publicly for the first time in 2012. In a speech when receiving a visibility award from the Human Rights Campaign she spoke movingly about her childhood, her fear and the thoughts of suicide she had had as a young person, and about the importance of being visible.
With Lilly she created the Netflix series “Sense8” (2015–2018), with a diverse, queer cast. In 2021 she directed “The Matrix Resurrections” alone.