Anthony Mackie – Rise to Fame

This star hardly needs an introduction but he is also one of the most underrated actors out there. He has done numerous movies, plays but is still due to get recognition for all his work. Today, on ‘Rise to Fame‘, let us get to know the star who was hand-picked to be the next Captain America, Anthony Mackie.

Early Life

Anthony’s full name is Anthony Dwane Mackie and he was born on September 23, 1978. He was born in New Orleans and is the son of Martha and Willie Mackie Sr. His father was a carpenter and owned a roofing business, Mackie Roofing. He has a brother, Calvin Mackie, who was a former associate professor of engineering at Tulane University. He used to work at Louisana Recovery Authority and currently is the CEO and Founder of STEM NOLA. It is a non-profit organization that has been creating access to STEM education for the past 5 years. It was founded in 2013.

Anthony attended Warren Easton Sr High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). He graduated from the high school drama program at North Carolina School of Arts (NCSA) in 1997. He later graduated from The Juilliard School’s Drama Division as a member of Group 30. 

Before becoming the Falcon that we know him as Anthony worked jobs with his dad. He used to spend his summers working for his dad’s construction company and helped him built things. In 2009, Mackie had taken some time off from acting to return to New Orleans and build a house. He had also considered becoming an oil-refinery engineer and studied for the same before pursuing acting.

Career

Anthony worked as an understudy to Don Cheadle in Suzan-Lori Parks’s play Topdog/Underdog. He won an OBIE Award for his role in Carl Hancock Rux’s play Talk. Anthony made his big-screen debut in the 2002 film, 8 Mile and played the main lead as one of Eminem’s rap rivals. His debut in a feature film was in 2003 for the independent venture, Brother to Brother. Anthony went on to appear in several films after that including Million Dollar Baby, She Hate Me, Half Nelson, Crossover and We Are Marshall.

Because he studied at Julliard School, he loves theatre and Shakespeare. Anthony appeared in several plays because of his passion for acting including Fences, Black Bottom and Jitney. He also participated several times in the “24-Hour Plays” held in New York City each fall. Mackie portrayed late American rapper Tupac Shakur in the 2009 film Notorious. Anthony has been a part of so many films and plays that it will take us an entire day to even write those.

In 2009, he appeared in The Hurt Locker. Mackie also narrated The Best That Never Was, a documentary about a football player. He also appeared in the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau and co-starred, as Sam Wilson / Falcon, in the Marvel Studios sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014. He reprised the role in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe films over the next several years, including 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

In 2016, Mackie portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the HBO TV drama All the Way. Anthony appeared in ventures like The Hate U Give, the second season of Netflix’s Altered Carbon, Black Mirror. Right after that, Disney announced its second television series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Anthony has also become a producer as he has produced the science fiction film, Outside The Wire which was released earlier this year. Despite Anthony’s long line of work, he has received global recognition for his role in the Marvel movies and TV series as Falcon.

Awards

Anthony Mackie has won the AAFCA Award and the Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Hurt Locker. He has also won the Black Reel Award for Best Actor for his role in Night Catches Us. Recently, Anthony has won the MTV Movie & Tv Awards for Best Hero for his role in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Anthony Mackie has done tremendous work and should be recognized for all his impeccable contributions to the Hollywood industry.