Matrix director Andy Wachowski: 'I'm transgender, and I've transitioned'

Andy Wachowski, who now goes by the name Lilly, has come out as transgender. Photo/Windy City Times

Andy Wachowski has come out as transgender, the second Wachowski sibling of the famous filmmaking duo known for The Matrix trilogy to do so.

Andy, who now goes by the name Lilly, released a statement saying she was forced to out herself after several publications threatened to publish stories without her approval.

"So yeah, I'm transgender. And yeah, I've transitioned. I'm out to my friends and family. Most people at work know too. Everyone is cool with it," wrote Lilly in a statement to the Windy City Times.

Lilly and her sister Lana have a long career in cinema together, making three Matrix movies, as well as Speed Racer, V For Vendetta and Cloud Atlas.

Lilly said she was hoping to wait until her "head was right" to make the news public, but was forced to do so when a reporter from The Daily Mail showed up on her doorstep.

"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. I knew at some point I would have to come out publicly. You know, when you're living as an out transgender person it's ... kind of difficult to hide. I just wanted-needed some time to get my head right, to feel comfortable," she wrote.

"But apparently I don't get to decide this."

Lana Wachowski, nee Larry, spoke about her sex change in 2012, admitting she was "terrified" of losing her family.

The Matrix director lived as a man called Larry until 2002 and only publicly confirmed her gender reassignment while promoting Cloud Atlas.

Lana Wachowski, as she appeared in the introduction for the Cloud Atlas trailer. Photo / YouTube

Lana, who divorced college sweetheart Thea Bloom in 2002 and went on to marry a second wife, told New Yorker she suffered sleepless nights as she contemplated telling her relatives about her sex change plans.

"For years, I couldn't even say the words transgendered or transsexual," she said.

"When I began to admit it to myself, I knew I would eventually have to tell my parents and my brother and my sisters. This fact would inject such terror into me that I would not sleep for days.''

- nzherald.co.nz