'Matrix' Finds Aaliyah Replacement

Posted Friday, April 12, 2002 at 4:54 PM Central

by Heather Koehler

The untimely death of pop star/actress Aaliyah left a lead role open in The Matrix Reloaded, but now Warner Bros. announced the new Zee.

Nona Gaye, daughter of Motown legend Marvin Gaye, will take the role for this second installment plus the third one, The Matrix Revolutions. Nona starred in Ali alongside Will Smith so she's no stranger to starring with big time stars.

Although most of Zee's scenes had been shot with Aaliyah, the studio decided to re-shoot in spite of fans repeated petitions to "preserve the Aaliyah footage." The decision to use a new actress came because Zee takes on a much larger role in The Matrix 3.

This comes straight from Warner Bros. reps. We didn't 'Hear It Through The Grapevine.'