Claim: Keanu Reeves played Neo.

Neo -LRB- born as Thomas A. Anderson , also known as The One , an anagram for Neo -RRB- is a fictional character and the main protagonist in The Matrix franchise . He was portrayed by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy , as well as having a cameo in The Animatrix short film ` Kid 's Story ' . Andrew Bowen provided Neo 's voice in The Matrix : Path of Neo . In 2008 , Neo was selected by Empire as the 16th Greatest Movie Character of All Time . Neo is also an anagram of `` one '' , a reference to his destiny of being The One who would bring peace . There are claims that a nightclub in Chicago inspired the name of the character in the Matrix .