Lana Wachowski

Lana Wachowski is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer best known as one half of the Wachowskis with her sister Lilly Wachowski.

Lana Wachowski is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer best known as one half of the filmmaking duo the Wachowskis with her sister Lilly Wachowski. She is widely known for co-creating The Matrix film series and for later projects including Bound, Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending, and Sense8. Lana Wachowski publicly came out as a transgender woman in 2012.

Early life

Lana Wachowski was born Laurence Wachowski in Chicago in 1965 and grew up there with her sister Lilly. Sources describe the family as Polish-American, with a nurse mother and businessman father.

Career

After dropping out of college, Wachowski and her sister worked in construction before turning to screenwriting and filmmaking. Their early screenplay Assassins led to a Warner Bros. contract, followed by their debut feature Bound and the breakout success of The Matrix.

Major works

Wachowski is associated with The Matrix franchise, Bound, V for Vendetta, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending, and the Netflix series Sense8. These projects are noted for science fiction, action, and philosophical themes.

Public life

Wachowski publicly identified as a transgender woman in 2012, including during promotion for Cloud Atlas and in an acceptance speech for a Human Rights Campaign award. This made her one of the more visible transgender filmmakers in mainstream Hollywood.