Carrie-Anne Moss is a key part of many Gen-X and Millennial’s pop culture experiences. Her role as The Matrix‘s Trinity captured hearts and inspired powerful women and girls as a bold sci-fi protagonist. Now, she’s starring in Die Alone, a Canadian horror thriller that is far deeper and more tragic than what its premise presents. Moss plays Mae, an eccentric survivor who takes in Ethan, a young man with amnesia during an apocalypse where mysterious and deadly creatures roam the Earth. We caught up with Carrie-Anne Moss to chat about Die Alone‘s heartbreak, themes, and whether Mae and Trinity would be best friends or not.
Nerdist: What was it about Mae and this film as a whole that made you want to be a part of it?
Carrie-Anne Moss: I loved her the minute I read about her and read the script. I loved the script, but I really loved Mae’s sense of humor. Loved the way that the writer Lowell Dean wrote her! She was a pleasure to play and I knew I wanted to do it right away actually. I really felt that strongly about it. [Dean] and I spoke on the phone and then we made [the film] probably over a year later. It took some time to get to actually shooting it.
Oh wow, I love that. One of the things I definitely noticed is that it seems like a physical role. There’s definitely some action scenes. What were some of the most challenging aspects that you encountered during filming, if any?
Moss: Yeah, I didn’t really find it challenging. It was very fun! It wasn’t anything difficult that I had to do on a physical level. Riding the bike with [co-star Douglas Smith] on the back, that was a fun day. I really would say that none of it was challenging in the way an action movie would be. I didn’t have to rehearse any of it.
Got it. Something that really struck me about Die Alone is its actual storyline. Of course, I was expecting kind of this sort of bleak post-apocalyptic, maybe horror-ish narrative, but it’s actually a heartbreaking and tragic love story of sorts. What are some aspects about this film that you hope really resonates with audiences?
Moss: I felt that way too. When I read [the script], I didn’t see it as any of the genres that [the industry puts] on movies. I saw it as this love story that asks what you would really do for love. And I think you can have a story that has all the other elements that some people are really into, the special effects, makeup, those creatures, and the whole apocalyptic kind of vibe, but then you also have this human story running in it that makes you think about love and what that really means. I hope people see the love story in the movie.
Absolutely. And what are some of the other themes or elements of Die Alone that stand out and make it different from what people’s expectations may be?
Moss: I’m not sure, to be honest. I think the movie is a surprise. It starts off with kind of a shocker. And then you go on this journey. I don’t know about you, but when I watch anything, I love when I go on a journey and I’m super surprised by it. It’s not often that I’m surprised. I read so many scripts. I just hope that people have the experience and go along with it and care about the characters and at the end are like, “Whoa, that was cool!”
The ending is such a delicious twist! Of course, they’re going to be some fans that make the comparisons between Mae and your The Matrix character Trinity. If the two of them had to go head to head against each other, which one would win the battle?
Moss: Oh, I don’t know, but I think it’s funny. Because the similarity between both those characters is that I play them, right? (laughs) I don’t think they’d have a fight.
Personally, I’d see them teaming up and being bosses together. They’re both in these worlds that are crumbling and no longer like the one we live in now. They both just level up for the challenges and level the people up around them, I think.
Moss: I like that. Oh yeah, you got to write that!
I may have to do it. And then you’ll have to play both characters!
Moss: Let me know I’m available!
Die Alone‘s will be in theaters, on digital and on demand on October 18th!