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Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan have dazzled viewers with their performances in Marvel’s limited TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Even though the two had already worked together on previous Marvel films such as Captain America: Civil War and the Avengers franchise, the two dialed in on their natural chemistry to make the show truly unforgettable.

Mackie, who plays the Falcon, is a talented actor who spent many years working in theatre before he starred in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Interestingly enough, he likened his experience working on the show to that of working on a stage play. 

Mackie’s co-star, Stan, also noted how their collaborative approach to character development has made The Falcon and the Winter Soldier so successful. 

Anthony Mackie says there were no egos on the set of ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’

Anthony Mackie attends "Seberg" photocall during the 76th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande
Anthony Mackie attends “Seberg” photocall during the 76th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande | Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
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Mackie recently spoke about his experience working on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Above all else, Mackie noted how nobody on set showed up to work with an ego. 

“I think at this point in our careers, usually there’s a certain tinge of ego or competition involved,” Mackie said. “And the great thing about my entire ride in the Marvel career is … I’ve never experienced any ego or machismo or anybody pushing to say, ‘This is mine, and I’m going to do this.’”

He also shared how he and Stan had to work together to help bring the best performances out of each other. 

“It’s all about telling the best story and making the movie or show work the best,” Mackie said. “There were certain things that was on the page with this show. I had to step back and let Sebastian fly. And there were certain times when Sebastian had to step back and let me fly. It was really amazing.”

Working on ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ felt like working on a play 

Later in the interview, Mackie compared starring in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to working on a stage play. 

“I feel, for me, doing this show was my first time on a project feeling like I was doing a theatre piece or a play,” Mackie said. “I think we’re so drastically different that we kind of worked together really well,” Mackie. said. “Because we appreciate, respect, and support each other, and work for the betterment of the project instead of ourselves.” 

Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie worked hard to develop their characters

In the same interview, Stan shared his thoughts on the collaborative method they used to build their characters. 

“It’s a balance” Stan said. “Anthony and I, we have a certain specific language with each other. But then the characters, we have to remember the characters have their own thing, and the history, and where they’re coming from. So we had to find the balance.

Stan made sure to credit both Marvel and show creator Malcolm Spellman for allowing them to do whatever they felt was necessary to pull off engaging performances. 

“And look, Marvel and again, Malcolm as well, he should get credit here,” Stan said, “They really allowed us to be able to bring things to these characters and let us find that middle ground between kind of like where is it funny? And where is this banter that we got? How can we apply it and make sense to these characters? …”

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