Andy Wachowski biography

Synopsis

Born on December 29, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, Andy Wachowski wrote for comics before working with sibling Larry to create the sexy thriller Bound. The Wachowskis then found great global success with the groundbreaking sci-fi feature The Matrix, followed by two sequels. The two later produced and wrote an adaptation of V for Vendetta and directed adaptations of Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas.

Early Life and Career

Andrew Wachowski was born on December 29, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Lynne and Ron Wachowski, were avid filmgoers who treated him and older brother Larry to a variety of cinematic treats. Andy attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School before enrolling at Emerson College. He left school to run his own painting and carpentry business with Larry while writing for a Marvel Comics imprint series, Ectokid. Andy wed Alisa Blasingame in 1991.

The Wachowski siblings started working in Hollywood with producer Joel Silver by penning a script for the Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas action flick Assassins (1995). They were then given directing and screenwriting duties for the sultry, women-centered heist film Bound (1996), starring Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly.

Launching 'The Matrix'

The siblings (formerly known as "the Wachowski Brothers") ended up directing and co-writing a groundbreaking work that explored existential philosophies in a dynamic storyline: The Matrix. The 1999 Warner Bros. film, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss, had a story that scrutinized the virtual world of a future era, and revolutionized the interplay of action choreography and CGI effects. The movie was a global blockbuster and was followed by two 2003 sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, with the trilogy earning more than $1 billion worldwide. Though enjoying huge success, the siblings maintained their privacy, negotiating with Warner Bros. that they wouldn't do press.

Andy helped to establish Burlyman Entertainment, a comic and graphic novel publisher, in 2004. The siblings stayed in that literary world for their next project, producing and writing the 2006 film adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta. The movie, directed by James McTeigue, starred Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman as characters in a dystopic England undergoing revolution, as sparked by a masked figure.