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Anthony Mackie has more than two decades in Hollywood and has a starring role as the namesake of one of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes. But in a recent interview, he’s insistent that hard work just isn’t enough.
The longtime actor and star of February’s Captain America: Brave New World recently appeared on The Pivot, a podcast hosted by former NFL players Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor. In a clip from the hour-long conversation that made its rounds on social media, Mackie speaks about how privilege and luck play a big part in professional success.
“I’ve been in the business 24 years, and I’ve seen people go from nothing to the biggest stars in the world. I’ve seen people go from one role to winning Academy Awards,” he said. “I realized yesterday, thinking about it: we’re lying to our kids, dog. I think that’s a big problem in our community.”
https://x.com/thepivot/status/1899592750137594033
Anthony Mackie said that children are often told that they can accomplish their goals as long as they put enough effort into school and their professional aspirations, but that without the recognition from the powers that be, such work is for naught.
“We tell our kids if they do right, they make the good grades and they go to the programs, they will become successful. If you work hard enough, your work will be paid off. And that’s not true,” he said. “Success is given, it’s not earned. You can be the most brilliant, but if one person don’t tap you?”
To illustrate his point, he brought up the professional football careers of the podcast’s hosts. “Each one of y’all, there were people who could hit harder, catch better, and run faster. But somebody said ‘you, you’re the one,’ and the other 50 [players] behind you fell off,” he said. He then seemed to yearn for something more in his own career, despite the work that he’s put in.
“Because of that, I don’t know what that emotion or that feeling is, is the scary thing,” he continued. “I’ve went to all the programs. I’ve done Broadway, I’ve done off-Broadway. I’ve been in the business 24 years. I’ve been in two Academy Award films, I’ve done independent films, I’ve done major motion pictures. Now, I’m Captain America. So now what? I should be the lead of the next Spike Lee movie, I should be co-starring with Denzel, because that’s what happened to everybody else.”
It’s unclear whether Anthony Mackie is simply sharing that he’s still aspiring for more, or if he’s jaded with the level of critical recognition for his work. But the quote feels like a cynical and helpless approach to bestow unto Black children. As co-host Ryan Clark pointed out, he seemed to take the adage of Black people “working twice as hard to get half as much” seriously. Mackie spoke in the interview about being mentored by other New Orleans-born prodigies like Tony Award-winning actor Wendall Pierce and revered trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and how they told him to be on top of his game. He recalls when going to New York City to apply for the prestigious Julliard School, instead of preparing the expected two monologues and a two-minute clip of a song, he prepared 15 monologues and four songs. He says that he never read for 8 Mile director Curtis Hanson, but that Hanson added extra scenes for Mackie’s role of Papa Doc because the two built a connection while speaking about Hitchcockian elements of Hanson’s previous film Wonder Boys. He appears to have always gone the extra mile in his Hollywood pursuits. “Literally, I did the math: I put in 10,750 hours of training before the job,” he said elsewhere in the interview.
He’s certainly been able to build a sustainable career, and he’s earned kudos from the Independent Spirit Awards, the African-American Film Critics Association, the NAACP Image Awards, and the MTV Movie Awards. But Captain America: Brave New World received negative reviews from critics, despite grossing more than $370 million worldwide. And he also hasn’t been given any nominations at the Emmys, Golden Globes, or Oscars, the award shows seen as the cream of the crop for television and film. Other Black actors have also expressed issues with receiving proportionate roles, awards, or financial compensation in Hollywood, attributing the issue to systemic racism in the industry. Journalist April Reign’s viral #OscarsSoWhite hashtag put the issue on blast in 2015, the first of two consecutive years where all of the nominees in the awards’ acting categories were white.
But Mackie hasn’t always been on board with the complaints that other Black creators in Hollywood have had. In a 2015 interview with TheGrio, he said then that not only were all of the white nominees worthy of their praise, but that viewers were disenchanted with other films.
“People are just tired of being bombarded with race right now, so everyone is shying away from certain topics and certain movies,” Mackie said in the 2015 interview. “If you look at all the movies that are nominated, all the actors that are nominated, they all gave a damn good performance. Me specifically, if that’s something I want, I have to step my game up. I have to do better movies and I have to act better.”
It’s subjective whether Anthony Mackie deserves more accolades than he’s received, whether before those comments or since he’s made them. Still, his hard work has still earned him roles in blockbuster films and a career of more than 20 years. It’s understandable if he feels underrated, but hopefully he can still be grateful for what he’s already achieved while still continuing to pursue his goals. Many of the Black children he says we’re lying to would be excited to have a career like his, even if he still wants more.
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