Faced with the packed crowd and a seemingly endless line of reporters, some celebrities took the easy way out and just posed for photos, leaving the task of facing hundreds of microphones up to the braver souls.

I was able to catch a few of "The Matrix Reloaded" stars prior to their hasty retreat into the safe confines of the theater. Here's a sampling of quotes direct from the 'black carpet' event.

HUGO WEAVING ('Agent Smith')

How would you sum up "The Matrix Reloaded?"
It's a titanic struggle between intuition and controlling intellect.

We see hundreds of you in this film. Would you like to be cloned?
No, I don't think so. I sometimes want another twin as long as he didn't really look like me. I'd hate to see hundreds of me (laughing). There are hundreds of 'Smiths,' not hundreds of me. I feel a little different from him.

How did you develop the vocal cadence that this character uses?
We had four or five months training and I was hanging out with Larry and Andy Wachowski, the directors. They sound kind of a little bit similar to him. I wanted him to be not really like a human being, but not really like a robot - something like a newsreader. That's kind of where I was at with him.

When you did the 'Burly Brawl' scene, did you have to each movement 12 times?
Yes, some shots I did, other times there were stuntmen doing those roles, and other times it's CG.