The unstoppable rise of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is only getting started, and the actor is going to be everywhere you look for years to come looking at the massive number of high-profile projects he’s got on the docket.
Having already headlined Nia DaCosta’s acclaimed Candyman this year, the actor will next be seen in hotly-anticipated sequel The Matrix Resurrections, where he’ll replace Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus. He’s currently reprising his role as Black Manta in blockbuster superhero sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with the trailer for Michael Bay’s Ambulance dropping yesterday.
In addition, he’s starring in the Dwayne Johnson-produced action thriller Emergency Contact, will lend support to Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth in George Miller’s Mad Max: Furiosa, and recently signed on for high concept dystopian tale By All.
That’s quite the schedule, but it was his part in The Matrix that came burdened with the highest levels of secrecy. In an appearance on the Jamele Hill is Unbothered podcast, Abdul-Mateen II revealed how he coped with landing a job he couldn’t really tell anyone about.
“I was forced to go out and celebrate that. Had some drinks. I did, I called my Momma and let her know, but I probably was about to go to sleep and get ready for press the next day; I had press for Watchmen or something like that, you know I’m always thinking ahead and trying to plan. I was definitely forced to stop what I was doing, to come out, to have drinks, to have shots and to have a good time. I’m so glad I did that because that’s what I remember most about that moment.”
A fairly understandable reaction you’d agree, but now that the cat is out of the bag and everyone knows he’s playing Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections, a weight will have been lifted off the 35 year-old’s shoulders.
