From The Matrix to Yaga, Carrie-Anne Moss still believes rejection can open the right door
Canadian actor talks about her new series, Yaga, The Matrix and what AI could mean for storytelling
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AI → believe → storytelling
Carrie-Anne Moss had just opened one of her favourite books to a chapter about Baba Yaga when an offer arrived to join the new series, Yaga.
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offer → open → series
The timing felt like a sign.
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timing → feel → sign
In an interview with CBC's Eli Glasner, Moss said she has owned Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés since 1999, and the chapter's subject echoed the project in front of her.
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subject → say → her
"I take those kinds of things quite literally," Moss said.
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Moss → take → things
"Things like that have always guided my life."
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Things → guide → life
Created by Canadian playwright Kat Sandler, Yaga is a dark mystery-thriller adapted from her 2019 stage play.
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Yaga → create → play
Toronto fans go wild for Hudson Williams.
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fans → go → Williams
And the cast of his new show goes wild for Canada
Seana McKenna stars in Yaga, a 'socially conscious fairy tale' that expands on the aging woman archetype
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that → go → archetype
Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek) stars as private investigator Charlie Rapp, who sets out to find missing heir Henry Park, played by Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry).
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who → star → Williams
In the fictional coastal town of Whittock, the case begins to echo the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga — an enigmatic figure whose hut is said to stand on chicken legs, and whose intentions can be as unpredictable as her power.
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intentions → begin → power
Sandler sent Moss a letter explaining why she wanted her for the role of Katherine Hargrove, a professor drawn to younger men.
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she → send → men
Moss read the letter, Sandler's pitch and the scripts before deciding to take the part.
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Moss → read → part
Carrie-Anne Moss stars as Prof. Katherine Hargrove in the mystery-thriller series, Yaga.
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Moss → star → series
Filming in Victoria has brought Moss back to British Columbia, where she grew up.
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she → film → Columbia
She used to spend summers on the island with her aunt and uncle, helping care for their children.
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'I always wanted to be an actress'
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Moss grew up in Burnaby and later lived with her mother in Granville Island while attending high school.
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She remembers taking the bus on her own to see the school plays, musicals and performing arts group that toured Vancouver and gave her early chances to perform.
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that → remember → chances
"I always wanted to be an actress," she told CBC News.
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she → want → News
Watching television helped spark that ambition.
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Watching → watch → ambition
Moss said she felt deeply invested in the shows and the emotions they stirred in her.
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they → say → her
"I'm crying because of what they're doing, I'm laughing because of what they're doing.
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they → cry → what
Like, I want to do that."
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I → want → that
Acting felt less like a calculated career plan than a purpose she had found early, Moss said.
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Moss → feel → purpose
She sang in choirs, wrote plays and musicals — she loved performing.
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"It was actually very innocent and beautiful," Moss said.
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"I hope for that kind of desire in someone's soul … to feel that that's your purpose."
Moss attends a promotional event for the television series Models Inc. on June 24, 1994 in Santa Monica, Calif. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Move to L.A. 'not always easy,' she says
That ambition took Moss from Vancouver to Toronto, where she worked as a model, and then to Europe.
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she → hope → Europe
While living in Barcelona, she landed her first major role on the television series Dark Justice (1991-93), a crime drama about a judge who moonlights as a vigilante.
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who → live → vigilante
Moss played the judge's legal clerk Tara McDonald.
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Moss → play → clerk
When the show moved to Los Angeles, Moss went with it.
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Moss → move → it
Moss said she had little money, few friends and no green card, which meant securing a visa whenever she worked.
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she → say → visa
She rented a room from comedian Pat Bullard, the ex-husband of her manager at the time, and relied on the opportunities that came her way.
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that → rent → opportunities
Still, she never considered going home.
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Moss said she had asked herself whether her desire to act came from ego or a wish to be famous, and concluded it was a genuine calling.
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it → say → ego
"I believed that with the purity of that intention that it would open for me," she said.
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she → believe → me
That belief was tested when she was let go from a television series after two seasons.
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she → test → seasons
The rejection hurt and left Moss questioning what came next.
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what → hurt → Moss
By 1997, Moss was auditioning for the role that would change her career.
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that → audition → career
Her final screen test for Trinity in The Matrix took place that August — on her 30th birthday — with Keanu Reeves, who was recovering from neck surgery and wearing a brace.
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who → take → brace
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
