Marcus Chong

As Tank in The Matrix, actor Marcus Chong found himself battling an oppressive form of computerized mind control, a malicious force almost beyond human comprehension. But that war would pale in comparison to the subsequent fight that Chong would have with Larry and Andy Wachowski over his role in the film's sequels. The adopted son of popular 1970s comic Tommy Chong, young Marcus began his acting career with an episode of the popular television series Little House on the Prairie. His feature debut followed three years later with the low-budget horror film Blood Beach, and Chong would continue to appear in made-for-television features through the mid-'90s. Following a strong performance as Huey Newton in director Mario Van Peebles' Panther, Chong was cast as human freedom fighter Tank in the 1999 sci-fi breakthrough The Matrix. When Chong's character was cut from the eagerly anticipated sequels following his allegedly inflated salary demands, Chong claimed that both the Wachowski brothers and producer Joel Silver had conspired to blackball him from the Hollywood system by labeling him a terrorist. Though Chong did not face his plight alone, a series of grassroots efforts to get him cast in the sequels never quite panned out. Following the much-publicized conflict, Chong went back in front of the cameras for a role in The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2004).

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide