Laurence Fishburne has come a long way since playing Morpheus in The Matrix. Then again, he came an even further distance from the start of his career to the 1999 sci-fi mega-hit blockbuster. In fact, the earliest parts of Laurence's career were downright strange and somewhat hilarious when you think of the respected actor he's since become.
He Started With A Soap Opera And A War Movie
Laurence Fishburne's first acting credit is as a character named Fish in a TV movie called If You Give A Dance, You Gotta Pay The Band. But there's no doubt that his first 'legitimate' role was in the soap opera One Life To Live. Laurence played John West Hall for 15 episodes from 1974 - 1976. Of course, being cast on an established soap opera was a big deal for Laurence as he was just a kid at the time. But being cast in a Francis Ford Coppola movie was an even bigger deal.
When Laurence was only 14 years old, he was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. Only, the famed Godfather director had no clue that the young man he cast as a soldier in one of the movie's most memorable sequences wasn't 16 like he said he was.
According to an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos, Laurence said that he wasn't really fooling anyone. Francis was more concerned with whether or not Laurence could play an 18-year-old. Turns out he could. And Laurence was cast in one of the most memorable and well-regarded movies of all time.
Jumping from a soap opera to one of the most acclaimed war movies of all time certainly seems like a stretch. But it was this trajectory that truly launched Laurence Fishburne into the stratosphere. Of course, when he started out, it was doubtful that he knew how much money he'd be making in movies like The Matrix or John Wick. But there's no doubt that Laurence knew that something good was coming his way after Francis hired him.
Following Apocalypse Now, Laurence spent a lot of time on stage cementing himself as an actor to be taken seriously. But he also spent a lot of time in the television industry. He did a mini-series called Rumor of War, then six episodes of The Six O'Clock Follies, Trapper John M.D., M*A*S*H, and Strike Force.
While Laurence was working steadily, he still needed to take a job as a bouncer to make ends meet, according to The Orlando Sentinel. Fortunately, Laurence never got distracted from his main passion of acting in films and still managed to get small roles in a number of different movies, including Steven Spielberg's Color Purple alongside Whoopi Goldberg. But Laurence's next big break didn't come from Spielberg... it came from Pee-wee.
Pee-Wee's Playhouse Launched Morpheus' Career
Laurence Fishburne was Cowboy Curtis in 17 episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse, the hit children's show starring Paul Ruebens. While Paul Reubens and Pee-wee Herman have vanished from Hollywood (more or less), Cowboy Curtis is still alive and well. Sure, he won't be reprising his role as Morpheus in the upcoming Matrix 4 movie which is reuniting his co-stars, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, but his incredible career continues to unfold... thanks to Pee-wee...
Even though Laurence had quite a few credits to his name, the extremely famous Paul Reubens made him audition. According to an interview on Conan, Laurence actually went for a darker more serious style for the 1950's style cowboy character. Apparently, Paul pulled Laurence aside and told him to "lighten up". After all, it was a kid's comedy.
While many would have frowned upon the role in Pee-wee's playhouse, Laurence was smart and took it completely seriously. Not only was it a legitimate job with a legitimate paycheck, but Pee-wee was just about the biggest thing in the 1980s when Pee-wee's Playhouse began. By that time, Paul Reubens had already done the stage play, two Tim Burton movies, and was appearing on talk shows left, right, and center. Because of this, all eyes were on his kid's TV show... and one of his recurring characters really stood out.
Following his days as Cowboy Curtis, Laurence was hired by Spike Lee for School Daze, starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Red Heat, and had a substantial role in Boyz In The Hood.
With the rest of the 1990s, Laurence saw even more incredible success. Of course, he capped off the 1990s with The Matrix, the movie that made him an A-lister with a legitimate pull in Hollywood. There's no doubt that Laurence has three very different projects for his career. One was a soap opera. The next was a war film. And the last was playing a cowboy next to Pee-wee Herman... Yeah, that's a very strange start.