Anthony Mackie Once Wanted to Play a Villain Before Being Cast as Falcon
The Marvel superhero Falcon has become known by many thanks to actor Anthony Mackie’s portrayal of the character. But before his take on Falcon, Mackie would’ve preferred being a villain instead.
Anthony Mackie wanted to be a villain instead of a superhero
It was an emotional moment when Mackie received the call that he’d been cast as the superhero Falcoln. When he was first informed that he’d be donning his wings, Mackie not only thought about himself. He thought about all the others his role would influence as well.
“When I heard I got the role I broke down in tears,” he once said according to CS Monitor. “I realized two years from that date some little brown boy was going to be at my door in a Falcon costume on Halloween. When I was a kid I didn’t have that. It wasn’t like I could get asked, ‘Who do you want to be for Halloween?’ and say Shaft. Being the Falcon is monumental.”
This was an especially triumphant moment for Mackie, who’d already tried getting Marvel’s attention. But he saw himself playing a villain more than a hero at the time.
“I wanted to be like the Joker and get my Heath Ledger on,” he added. “I would send Marvel an email, like every four to five months. I was calling saying, ‘I’ll work for free.’ About two years ago they sent me a letter saying, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ I was like ‘Damn – Marvel mad at me.'”
Anthony Mackie had no fun with his costume experience as Falcon
Mackie has been extremely grateful for his superhero role. So much so he being Falcon made him feel like an Oscar-winner. But the part didn’t come without some challenges. In the beginning, it was a bit difficult for Mackie to adjust with some of the work that came with the role.
“It was no fun,” Mackie once told GeekDad. “The hardest working actors in Hollywood are flying superheroes. I said it, I don’t care what Thor says with his hammer. I don’t care what Wolverine says. If you fly, it sucks.”
It didn’t help that Mackie was immediately tasked to perform harrowing stunts when it was time to shoot Winter Soldier.
“So my first day on set I walk in, I’m like, ‘What’s up, yo. Falcon in the building, what’s up?’ Right. And so I get up on like a 60 foot platform. And I’m like, all right, let’s do this. You know, brother in the building,” Mackie recalled. “And they said, ‘All right, stand on the edge of the platform, there’s a jet coming at you. We want to stand up, turn around, shoot your guns, and jump backwards head first, into this mat.’ From 60 feet in the air.”
This was an unexpected turn of events for Mackie, who thought he’d be off to a calmer start when doing Winter Soldier.
“And I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ The first day is usually like walking down a hallway, or eating or something. You know, just to break you in. Not jumping off the platform to your death,” he said.
How Anthony Mackie felt about potentially becoming the new Captain America
In light of recent events, Mackie has graduated from being the Falcon to a new Captain America. It gave Mackie a similar feeling to the one he experienced when first cast in Marvel. For the actor, it was another step forward towards representation.
“It poses questions. Now you have white kids who will look up to a Black Captain America,” Mackie told Vogue in a 2021 interview. “I have four little Black boys, and now they’re also going to have a conversation with their white, Asian, and Latino friends. That’s what is most important. When you take the [familiar] and spin it on its head, what do those conversations look like?”
