Anthony Mackie

Anthony Mackie
Mackie in 2025
Born
Anthony Dwane Mackie

(1978-09-23) September 23, 1978 (age 48)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
EducationJuilliard School (BA)
OccupationActor
Years active2001–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
Sheletta Chapital
​
​
(m. 2014; div. 2018)​
Children4
RelativesCalvin Mackie (brother)
AwardsFull list

Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. He has appeared in blockbuster films and independent features, and has received accolades such as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Mackie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and studied acting at Juilliard School, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in drama in 2001. He began his career appearing in a handful of stage productions, and made his film debut in 8 Mile (2002). While developing his career in films such as Million Dollar Baby (2004), Half Nelson (2006), Notorious (2009), and Real Steel (2011), he garnered critical acclaim and several awards for headlining Brother to Brother (2004) and co-starring in The Hurt Locker (2008).

Mackie gained global stardom for portraying Sam Wilson / Falcon / Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and including the solo projects The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and Captain America: Brave New World (2025). He continued to star in mainstream films such as Detroit (2017), The Hate U Give (2018), Synchronic (2019), and Elevation (2024), and in television projects such as All the Way (2016), Altered Carbon (2020), and Twisted Metal (2023–present). He earned Emmy nominations for hosting Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast (2024) and portraying a fictionalized version of himself in The Studio (2025).

Early life

Mackie was born on September 23, 1978, in New Orleans, Louisiana to Willie Mackie Sr., a construction worker, and Martha (née Gordon), a stay-at-home mom. He has five siblings, including Calvin, a motivational speaker and entrepreneur. He aspired to act in his childhood, attending high school at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and, after his mother's death, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. At age seventeen, he moved to New York City to attend Juilliard School, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in drama.

Career

2000s: Early years and breakthrough

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 2004 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.

2010s: Marvel and mainstream breakthrough

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 (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. Of these, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame rank among the highest-grossing films of all time.

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.

2020s: Leading roles

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 (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).

Personal life

In 2014, Mackie married his long-time girlfriend and childhood sweetheart Sheletta Chapital. They divorced in 2018. The ex-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 [wants] 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.

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 1:22 a.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.

Mackie has dyslexia.

Acting credits and accolades

Mackie has received multiple awards and nominations, including nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

References

  1. ↑ Attributed to multiple references:
    • Mandell, Jonathan (February 23, 2003). "Spring Theater: Performance; Class Clown Makes Good, Quietly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
    • Louie, Rebecca (August 6, 2006). "Anthony Mackie Goes Full Tilt in 'Half Nelson'". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
    • Gajewski, Josh (December 22, 2006). "Up & Comers: Meet Anthony Mackie". Bangor Daily News. p. 12. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Anthony Mackie (Actor)". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 24, 2026. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
  3. ↑ Ulaby, Neda (December 14, 2010). "Anthony Mackie, A Star Rising Step by Striking Step". NPR. Archived from the original on August 10, 2025. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Freydkin, Donna (March 18, 2021). "Anthony Mackie On Raising Boys and Being Captain America". Fatherly. Archived from the original on June 6, 2026. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Calvin Mackie, Ph.D". channelzro.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  6. ↑ Kitchens, Will (June 2, 2021). "The Education of Anthony Mackie". Sharp. Archived from the original on April 19, 2026. Retrieved September 2, 2026.
  7. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (August 11, 2006). "In 'Half Nelson,' a Student Knows a Teacher's Secret". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ King, Susan (November 5, 2006). "A grieving small town tries to recover from tragedy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Anthony Mackie". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  10. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (July 6, 2009). "Anthony Mackie Joins the Bacchae". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  11. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (February 15, 2010). "A Behanding in Spokane, With Walken, Kazan, Mackie and Rockwell, Begins on Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ Graser, Marc (July 16, 2012). "Mackie mulls Falcon in 'Captain America'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  13. ↑ Obenson, Tambay A. (September 13, 2012). "Anthony Mackie Confirmed To Play Falcon In 'Captain America' Sequel". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  14. ↑ Lussier, Germain (February 24, 2015). "The Gang's All Here in the Official 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Poster". /Film. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  15. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 14, 2014). "Daniel Bruhl To Play Villain In 'Captain America: Civil War'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Top Lifetime Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2026.
  17. ↑ Fleming, Mike (June 30, 2015). "Anthony Mackie To Play MLK Opposite Bryan's Cranston's LBJ In HBO's 'All The Way'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Anthony Mackie joins the cast of film adaptation of BLM-inspired novel, 'The Hate U Give'". shadowandact.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  19. ↑ Kroll, Justin (October 6, 2016). "Anthony Mackie, Margaret Qualley, and Danny Huston Join Sci-Fi Drama 'IO'". Variety. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  20. ↑ Otterson, Joe (July 27, 2018). "Altered Carbon Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix With Anthony Mackie in Lead Role". Variety. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  21. ↑ Petski, Denise (March 20, 2019). "'Black Mirror': Anthony Mackie & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Cast In Season 5". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  22. ↑ Couch, Aaron (April 11, 2019). "Marvel's Kevin Feige Promises "Major Storylines" for Disney+ Shows". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  23. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 20, 2019). "Kari Skogland To Direct 6-Part 'The Falcon And The Winter Soldier' Miniseries With Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Daniel Bruhl & Emily Van Camp". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  24. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (June 7, 2019). "Anthony Mackie To Star In Action-Sci-Fi 'Outside The Wire' For Netflix; 'Captain America' Star Will Produce With Automatik & 42". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Anthony Mackie Closes Deal To Star In Disney/Marvel's 'Captain America 4' Film". August 18, 2021. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  26. ↑ Sharf, Zack (June 6, 2023). "'Captain America 4' Retitled 'Brave New World,' Drops First Look at Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford on Set". Variety. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  27. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 19, 2022). "Anthony Mackie Making Directorial Debut On 'Spark;' 'King Richard's Saniyya Sidney To Star As Unsung Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  28. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 2, 2022). "Hot Package: Anthony Mackie & Priyanka Chopra Jonas In Kevin Sullivan Action Spec 'Ending Things'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  29. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (February 28, 2022). "'Twisted Metal': Peacock Lands Live-Action Video Game Adaptation Starring Anthony Mackie With Series Order". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Pitt football player changed course of history at 1956 Sugar Bowl". Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Investors". Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  32. ↑ Bamigboye, Baz Breaking Baz: ‘Captain America’s Anthony Mackie On Bonding With Harrison Ford, ‘Avengers’ Movies To Come & How A Punch On The Nose Drew Blood Deadline, February 11, 2025
  33. ↑ Dupre, Elyse (November 5, 2019). "Anthony Mackie and Wife Quietly Divorced Last Year". E! Online. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  34. ↑ Anthony Mackie Says Dating Is ‘Really Hard’ As a Famous Person: ‘How Do You Trust Someone?’ (Exclusive)
  35. ↑ Mathias, Christopher (July 20, 2011). "Anthony Mackie Opens Up 'NoBar' In Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  36. ↑ "Anthony Mackie Opening Second NoBar in Williamsburg". August 23, 2013. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  37. ↑ Hayden, Erik (November 9, 2013). "Anthony Mackie Arrested, Charged With Driving While Intoxicated". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  38. ↑ "Anthony Mackie Reveals Extreme Marvel Security Measures For New 'Captain America' Script". YouTube. February 27, 2023.