Anthony Mackie, who was classically trained at the Juilliard School of Drama, is a great and talented actor who is able to capture a plethora of characters.
Mackie was discovered after receiving rave reviews while playing Tupac Shakur in the off-Broadway Up Against the Wind. Immediately following, Mackie made an auspicious film debut as Eminem’s nemesis, Papa Doc, in Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile. His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who subsequently cast Mackie in the 2004 Toronto Film Festival Masters Program selection Sucker Free City and She Hate Me. He also appeared in Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby, opposite Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and Eastwood, and in J
Anthony Mackie, who was classically trained at the Juilliard School of Drama, is a great and talented actor who is able to capture a plethora of characters.
Mackie was discovered after receiving rave reviews while playing Tupac Shakur in the off-Broadway Up Against the Wind. Immediately following, Mackie made an auspicious film debut as Eminem’s nemesis, Papa Doc, in Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile. His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who subsequently cast Mackie in the 2004 Toronto Film Festival Masters Program selection Sucker Free City and She Hate Me. He also appeared in Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby, opposite Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and Eastwood, and in Jonathan Demme’s The Manchurian Candidate, alongside Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber, and the comedy The Man, starring Samuel L. Jackson.
Mackie earned IFP Spirit and Gotham Award nominations for his performance in Rodney Evans’ Brother to Brother, which won the 2004 Special Dramatic Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2005, he appeared opposite David Strathairn, Timothy Hutton and Leelee Sobieski in Heavens Fall, based on the historic Scottsboro Boys’ trials, an independent feature that premiered at the 2006 SXSW Film Festival in Austin.
Mackie also had five features on movie screens in 2006. In addition to We Are Marshall, he starred in Half Nelson, with Ryan Gosling, adapted from director Ryan Fleck’s Sundance-winning short Gowanus Brooklyn; in Preston Whitmore’s Crossover; in Frank E. Flowers ensemble crime drama Haven, opposite Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton; and in the film adaptation of Richard Price’s Freedomland, starring Samuel L. Jackson.
Intertwined throughout his film career, Mackie was seen in several theatrical performances both on and off-Broadway. Mackie made his Broadway debut as the stuttering nephew, Sylvester, alongside Whoopi Goldberg in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Next, he was seen as the lead in Regina King’s modern retelling of Chekov’s The Seagull, starred in Stephen Belber’s McReele for the Roundabout Theatre Company, and starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Soldier’s Play as a character made famous by Denzel Washington 20 years prior. Most recently, Mackie was part of August Wilson’s 20th Century production at the esteemed Kennedy Center, where they performed stage readings of all ten plays in August Wilson’s cycle. Mackie participated in three of the ten shows and hopes to return to the stage soon.
In 2009 Mackie was seen as Sgt. JT Sanborn in Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, a film that earned Mackie an Independent Spirit Award nomination and earned Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing Best Writing, and three other nods. 2009 also saw Mackie re-visit the role of Tupac Shakur in Fox Searchlight’s Notorious BIG biopic Notorious, and he also starred as Major William Bowman in the Dreamworks film Eagle Eye.
In 2010 Mackie returned to Broadway starring in Martin McDonough’s latest creation, A Behanding In Spokane. He also reunited with Kerry Washington in the drama Night Catches Us, released by Magnolia Pictures on December 3, 2010. In 2011 Mackie was seen in Universal Pictures The Adjustment Bureau, which also featured Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, and the Disney/Dreamworks feature Real Steel, which also starred Hugh Jackman. Mackie is also featured in Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks, which was released on January 27, 2012; the Timur Bekmambetov-directed Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which was released on June 20, 2012; and the feature Ten Year in which he co-starred with Channing Tatum, Kate Mara, Rosario Dawson, and Justin Long. Mackie is featured in the crime drama Gangster Squad, which also stars Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, and Ryan Gosling, released by Warner Brothers on January 11, 2013. Mackie also appeared in the Michael Bay-directed Pain & Gain, starring alongside Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The film was released by Paramount on April 26, 2013, and opened as the #1 film, earning over $20 million in its first weekend. In 2014 Mackie starred in Black or White opposite Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer and Playing it Cool with Chris Evans and Michelle Monaghan.
Mackie is a member of the Marvel Comics family. He made his Marvel debut as Sam Wilson/The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The film, released on April 4, 2014, opened #1, earning over 96 million dollars, breaking the record for an April release. Mackie also starred alongside Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, and Sebastian Stan in the franchise’s second installment. Mackies’s Falcon made an appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War, the third installment in the Captain America franchise, which opened to rave reviews and record-box office numbers. He appeared as Falcon in Avengers: Infinity War. Released on April 26, 2018, the film earned around $258.2 million in its debut weekend.
Mackie has also starred in Our Brand is Crisis opposite Sandra Bullock and Shelter, with Jennifer Connelly, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was released nationwide on November 13, 2015. Additionally, he starred in the Holiday films Love the Coopers with a terrific ensemble cast including Marisa Tomei, Diane Keaton and Amanda Seyfried, and opposite Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon Levitt in The Night Before, released on November 20, 2015. Mackie also appeared in Triple 9 opposite Woody Harrelson and Kate Winslet in February 2018. He was recently seen in FOX’s critically acclaimed film The Hate U Give, based on the best-selling novel by Angie Thomas.
Mackie starred in the HBO, Jay Roach directed, adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play All The Way. He played the role of Martin Luther King Jr. opposite Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon B. Johnson.
In Winter 2019, Mackie was featured in SONY’s Miss Bala alongside Gina Rodriguez as well as Netflix’s IO opposite Margaret Qualley.
In Spring 2019, Mackie starred in MARVEL’s Avengers: Endgame, where he reprised his role as Sam Wilson/ Falcon. The film, released on April 26, 2019, earned $2.751 billion at the box office.
In Summer 2019, Mackie appeared in the 5th season of Netflix’s hit series, Black Mirror, where he starred in the “Striking Vapers” episode. He also starred in the streamer’s action-thriller Point Blank alongside Frank Grillo.
This winter, Mackie starred in the second season of the Netflix series Altered Carbon, which premiered on February 28, 2020. He also starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Nicholas Hoult in Apple TV+’s The Banker, released in theaters on March 6 and Apple TV+ on March 20, 2020.
This spring, Mackie starred opposite Kristen Stewart in Seberg, which made its world premiere at Venice Film Festival, followed by a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019. On December 13, 2019, Seberg opened in theaters and began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on May 15, 2020.
This fall, Mackie starred in the film Synchronic opposite Jamie Dornan. The film was released globally on October 23, 2020, after making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival the year prior.
Mackie will next be seen starring alongside Avengers: Endgame co-star Sebastian Stan in the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will air on the streaming service in 2021. He will star and co-produce Netflix’s action sci-fi movie Outside the Wire, which will be released next year. He can also be seen in FOX’s upcoming crime drama The Woman in the Window with Julianne Moore and Amy Adams.
