Has Larry Wachowski become Lana at last?

Larry Wachowski, one half of The Matrix filmmaking duo the Wachowski brothers, has reignited speculation that he has had a sex change operation after a rare public appearance. The 43-year-old director was spotted at Los Angeles international airport this month sporting a blonde bob, a womanly-shaped jacked and low cut vest. The photo, obtained by US magazine, also shows that Wachowski has ditched his glasses and appears to be wearing make-up.

The sighting on April 17 has fuelled ongoing rumours that 43-year-old Larry is in the process of changing his sex, to become a woman known as Lana. Shortly after the release of the final Matrix movie, Matrix Reloaded in 2003, Wachowski (pictured at the film's LA premier, centre) reportedly started making occasional appearances dressed as a woman and using the name Lana Wachowski.

Larry and brother Andy Wachowski have always been reclusive. In their contracts for the Matrix sequels they refused to do press junkets or interviews, or be photographed for promotional purposes. The sci-fi thrillers, in which computer hacker Keanu Reeves learns about the true nature of his reality, could speak for themselves, they insisted.

This could be one reason why stories about Larry's sex change persist, his producer Joel Silver suggested in a 2007 interview. The rumours were "all untrue", he told Fox News. "They just don't do interviews, so people make things up."