--- title: 'Matrix' Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski Comes Out as Transgender description: Lilly Wachowski, one-half of the sibling filmmaker duo best known for their 'Matrix' trilogy, has come out as transgender in an essay canonical: https://time.com/4252172/lilly-wachowski-matrix-transgender/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-09T09:30:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:44:13.401Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Matrix' Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski Comes Out As Transgender og:description: Her sister and filmmaking partner Lana is also transgender og:url: https://time.com/4252172/lilly-wachowski-matrix-transgender/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc6680e34cd8bd2/69888a3f5f570f85e6b1ff42/rtr39jx6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Wachowski's arrive for premiere of new film "Cloud Atlas" in Hollywood og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Matrix' Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski Comes Out As Transgender twitter:description: Her sister and filmmaking partner Lana is also transgender twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc6680e34cd8bd2/69888a3f5f570f85e6b1ff42/rtr39jx6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Matrix_ Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski Comes Out as Transgender Woman by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Mar 9, 2016 9:30 AM UTC  Lilly Wachowski prior to her transition, left, and sibling Lana Wachowski, the screenwriters, producers and directors of film Cloud Atlas, pose as they arrive for the film's premiere on Oct. 24, 2012 Lilly Wachowski prior to her transition, left, and sibling Lana Wachowski, the screenwriters, producers and directors of film Cloud Atlas, pose as they arrive for the film's premiere on Oct. 24, 2012Fred Prouser—Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Mar 9, 2016 9:30 AM UTC Lilly Wachowski, one-half of the sibling filmmaker duo best known for their _Matrix_ trilogy, has come out as a transgender woman in [an essay](http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Second-Wachowski-filmmaker-sibling-comes-out-as-trans-/54509.html) published in the _Windy City Times_, a Chicago LGBT newspaper. The 48-year-old Wachowski, whose older sister Lana is also transgender, wrote that for the last year, media outlets have been indicating that they would break the news of her transition from Andy to Lilly — a prospect, she writes, that brought “dread and/or eye rolling exasperation.” She finally decided to come out herself after a reporter from the _Daily Mail_ arrived on her doorstep, trying to coerce her into sharing her story. “My sister Lana and I have largely avoided the press. I find talking about my art frustratingly tedious and talking about myself a wholly mortifying experience,” Wachowski writes in the essay, which the _Windy City Times_ published on Tuesday. “I knew at some point I would have to come out publicly … I just wanted — needed some time to get my head right, to feel comfortable.” In the essay, Wachowski writes that she “will continue to transition all of \[her\] life.” Her announcement comes almost four years after her older sister Lana, who was named Larry at birth, [revealed](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/matrix-director-sex-change-larry-wachowski%5Fn%5F1720944.html) her own transition in a promotional spot for the siblings’ 2012 film _Cloud Atlas_. Since the release of _The Matrix_ in 1999, the Wachowskis have been among Hollywood’s most celebrated science-fiction filmmakers. Their filmography, which commonly explores dystopian visions, includes _V for Vendetta,_ the story of a renegade anarchist in a neofascist England, and last year’s sweeping space opera _Jupiter Ascending_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4252172/lilly-wachowski-matrix-transgender/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4252172/lilly-wachowski-matrix-transgender/"},"headline":"Matrix Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski Comes Out as Transgender Woman","datePublished":"2016-03-09T09:30:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:44:13.401Z","description":"Her sister and filmmaking partner Lana is also transgender","url":"https://time.com/4252172/lilly-wachowski-matrix-transgender/","keywords":["movies","Hollywood","LGBT","Transgender"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc6680e34cd8bd2/69888a3f5f570f85e6b1ff42/rtr39jx6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc6680e34cd8bd2/69888a3f5f570f85e6b1ff42/rtr39jx6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wachowski's arrive for premiere of new film \"Cloud Atlas\" in Hollywood","caption":"Wachowski's arrive for premiere of new film \"Cloud Atlas\" in Hollywood","creditText":"Fred Prouser—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4252172/lilly-wachowski-matrix-transgender/","name":"Matrix Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski Comes Out as Transgender Woman"}}]}] ```