Laurence Fishburne may be best known to a generation of moviegoers as Morpheus, but the actor says the experience of making The Matrix left its mark on him in more ways than one. Speaking at the Marrakech Film Festival, Fishburne recalled the physically punishing preparation he and his co-stars endured while learning to fight in the Hong Kong action tradition.

“We were essentially the first Western actors to work in the Hong Kong style,” he said, noting that martial arts legend Yuen Woo-ping was initially unsure whether he, Keanu Reeves, and Carrie-Anne Moss could handle the demands. That uncertainty led to an intense regimen. “He trained us really hard — training us like professional athletes,” Fishburne explained. “In the middle of that training I realised why they pay professional athletes so much money: because professional athletes are always in pain. Not in pain sometimes — like when you go to the gym and then you’re sore for a day. They’re in pain All. The. Time.”

Even decades later, Fishburne says the physical discipline remains with him. “It’s all—I mean, it’s still in the body,” he laughed. “We each had two trainers, and they worked us really, really hard! ”

The conversation in Marrakech covered far more than The Matrix, spanning Fishburne’s journey from a Brooklyn kid whose life “was six blocks wide” to performances in Apocalypse Now, Boyz N the Hood, and King of New York. Across his career, he said, he has been guided by a desire to push beyond familiarity. “I’m always looking for ways to surprise the audience,” he explained. “I’m always trying to change a little here, shift a little there… someone you can’t predict. I want to create a character who surprises you, someone in whom you either see yourself or someone you know.”