Anthony Mackie


Anthony Dwane Mackie is an American actor. He gained wide recognition for portraying Sam Wilson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and later starring as the titular character in Captain America: Brave New World.
Mackie made his film debut in 8 Mile, and earned critical recognition for his roles in Brother to Brother, which garnered him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor, and The Hurt Locker, which earned him nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the AAFCA Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards. He also played Tupac Shakur in Notorious and Martin Luther King Jr. in the HBO film All the Way.
On television, Mackie starred as Takeshi Kovacs in the second season of Netflix's Altered Carbon, a delivery driver in the Peacock series Twisted Metal, and a fictionalized version of himself in the Apple TV+ series The Studio, which earned him his first Primetime Emmy nomination. In theater, he has performed in Broadway and Off-Broadway adaptations, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, A Soldier's Play and Carl Hancock Rux's Talk, for which he won an Obie Award in 2002.

Early life

Mackie was born on September 23, 1978, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Martha and Willie Mackie Sr., a carpenter who owned a roofing business, Mackie Roofing. His brother, Calvin Mackie, is a former associate professor of engineering at Tulane University who now works at the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Mackie attended Warren Easton Sr High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and graduated from the high school drama program at the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1997. He later graduated from the Juilliard's Drama Division as a member of Group 30, which also included actors Tracie Thoms and Lee Pace.

Career

In 2002, Mackie worked as an understudy to Don Cheadle in Suzan-Lori Parks' play Topdog/Underdog and won an OBIE Award for his role in Carl Hancock Rux's play Talk. He appeared in the 2002 film 8 Mile as the main antagonist, Papa Doc. His first starring role in a feature film was the 2003 independent film Brother to Brother, where he played Perry, a young artist who struggles to adjust to the world as a gay black man. The following year, Mackie appeared in Million Dollar Baby, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and starred in Spike Lee's She Hate Me. In 2006, Mackie starred in Half Nelson, Crossover, and We Are Marshall.
In March 2008, Mackie starred in three plays by playwright August Wilson at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, and Jitney – all part of "August Wilson's 20th Century", a month-long presentation of ten staged readings of Wilson's "Century Cycle". Mackie has participated several times in the "24-Hour Plays" held in New York City each fall. In mid-2009, he played the role of Pentheus in the New York City Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of The Bacchae. He starred with Christopher Walken in A Behanding in Spokane on Broadway in February 2010.
Mackie portrayed late American rapper Tupac Shakur in the 2009 film Notorious. He had previously portrayed Shakur in the play Up Against the Wind in 2001, while attending Juilliard. In 2009, he appeared in The Hurt Locker. Mackie also narrated The Best That Never Was, a documentary about football player Marcus Dupree. He appeared in the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau as Harry Mitchell, a sympathetic member of a shadowy supernatural group that controls human destiny. Mackie co-starred, as Sam Wilson / Falcon, in the Marvel Studios sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 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. In 2018, Mackie appeared as gang leader King in The Hate U Give, a film adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name. In 2019, Mackie had a role in the Netflix science-fiction film, IO.
In July 2018, it was announced that Mackie was cast in the role of Takeshi Kovacs for the second season of Netflix's science-fiction series, Altered Carbon. In March 2019, it was announced that Mackie was cast in the fifth season of Netflix's science-fiction anthology series, Black Mirror. The following month, Disney confirmed a Marvel television series starring Mackie and Sebastian Stan, called The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, would be aired on their upcoming Disney+ streaming service, debuting on March 19, 2021. Mackie starred in and produced the science fiction film Outside the Wire which was released by Netflix on January 15, 2021. In August 2021, Mackie closed the deal to reprise the role in the fourth Captain America film, Captain America: Brave New World.
In January 2022, it was announced that Mackie will helm the drama film Spark, starring Saniyya Sidney, as his directorial debut project. In February 2022, he was set to lead action film Ending Things along with Priyanka Chopra Jonas, directed by Kevin Sullivan and star in a live-action series adaptation of the game Twisted Metal at Peacock. In 2022, it was announced Mackie would be attached to a film based on the 1956 Sugar Bowl which features his brother's Alma mater Georgia Tech. Mackie also appears in the 2024 documentary Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast.
Mackie is set to reprise his role as Captain America in the upcoming Avengers movies, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Personal life

In 2014, Mackie married his long-time girlfriend and childhood sweetheart Sheletta Chapital. They divorced in 2018. The couple have four sons together and the family lives in New Orleans. In February 2025, Mackie was asked about his current love life and said he was just focusing on raising his children because: "The idea of dating is really hard. How do you trust someone? How do you put yourself in a position to be vulnerable? How do you know what someone really from you when all you want is to just be loved and appreciated? What does that look like?”.
Mackie opened a bar called NoBar in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in the summer of 2011. He had plans to open a second NoBar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2013, but closed all NoBar locations in 2015.
In November 2013, Mackie was arrested for driving while intoxicated after he was initially stopped by police for having tinted windows, which are illegal in New York. He was pulled over at 1:22a.m., officers noticed an odor of alcohol and observed that Mackie had bloodshot eyes. He was fined $300, ordered to complete a drunk driving program and banned from the road for 90 days in New York state for the violation.
On The Kelly Clarkson Show, Mackie revealed that he has dyslexia.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
20028 MileClarence "Papa Doc"
2003CrossingCassShort film
2003Hollywood HomicideKiller "Joker"
2004Brother to BrotherPerry
2004The Manchurian CandidatePFC Robert Baker
2004She Hate MeJohn Henry "Jack" Armstrong
2004HavenHammer
2004Million Dollar BabyShawrelle Berry
2005The ManBooty
2006FreedomlandBilly Williams
2006Half NelsonFrank
2006Heavens FallWilliam Lee
2006We Are MarshallNate Ruffin
2006CrossoverTech
2007Ascension DayNathaniel "Nat" Turner
2008Eagle EyeMajor William Bowman
2009The Hurt LockerSergeant J. T. Sanborn
2009American VioletEddie Porter
2009NotoriousTupac Shakur
2009Desert FlowerHarold Jackson
2010Night Catches UsMarcus Washington
2011The Adjustment BureauHarry Mitchell
201110 YearsAndre Irine
2011What's Your Number?Tom Piper
2011Real SteelFinn
2012Man on a LedgeMike Ackerman
2012Abraham Lincoln: Vampire HunterWill Johnson
2013Gangster SquadColeman Harris
2013RepentanceTommy Carter
2013Pain & GainAdrian Doorbal
2013The Fifth EstateSam Coulson
2013Runner RunnerAgent Eric Shavers
2013The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & PeteKris
2014Captain America: The Winter SoldierSam Wilson / Falcon
2014Black or WhiteJeremiah Jeffers
2014ShelterTahir
2014Playing It CoolBryan
2015Avengers: Age of UltronSam Wilson / Falcon
2015Ant-ManSam Wilson / Falcon
2015Our Brand Is CrisisBen
2015Love the CoopersOfficer Percy Williams
2015The Night BeforeChris Roberts
2016Triple 9Marcus Belmont
2016Captain America: Civil WarSam Wilson / Falcon
2017DetroitKarl Greene
2018Avengers: Infinity WarSam Wilson / Falcon
2018The Hate U GiveKing
2019IoMicahAlso executive producer
2019Miss BalaJimmy
2019Avengers: EndgameSam Wilson / Falcon
2019Point BlankPaul Booker
2019SynchronicSteve Denube
2019SebergHakim Jamal
2020The BankerBernard GarrettAlso producer
2021Outside the WireCaptain LeoAlso producer
2021The Woman in the WindowEdward "Ed" Fox
2023We Have a GhostFrank
2023If You Were the LastAdam Gary
2023GhostedGrandson of SamCameo
2024ElevationWillAlso producer
2025Captain America: Brave New WorldSam Wilson / Captain AmericaAlso executive producer
2025The Electric StateHerman
2025SneaksTy
2025Desert WarriorHanzala
2026Avengers: DoomsdaySam Wilson / Captain AmericaPost-production