Anthony Mackie reflects on the dangers of filming his Oscar-winning war movie and reacts to its inclusion in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The actor is best known for playing Sam Wilson/Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and including the Disney+ miniseries, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Mackie is currently on a press tour promoting his first solo film, Captain America: Brave New World, in which he officially takes on the тιтular mantle.

Before joining the superhero franchise in 2014, Mackie starred in several Oscar-winning films, including his debut in the Eminem biopic 8 Mile, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Lose Yourself.”) In 2004, Mackie played a boxer in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, which won four Oscars, including Best Picture. In 2008, he starred in another Best Picture-winning film that won a total of six Academy Awards and ended up putting Mackie on the map, leading to his casting in the MCU.

Anthony Mackie Reflects On Dangers Filming The Hurt Locker

& Reacts To Its Inclusion in the National Film Registry

Anthony Mackie reflects on the dangers of filming The Hurt Locker and reacts to its inclusion in the National Film Registry. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, with a script written by Mark Boal, the 2008 Oscar-winning war film follows a bomb disposal team who are targeted by insurgents during the Iraq War, focusing on their psychological responses to the intense pressures of combat. The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce.

Appearing in a recent Esquire video, Mackie reflected on the dangers of filming The Hurt Locker and reacted to its inclusion in the National Film Registry in 2020. The actor reflected on filming near the Iraqi border in an active war zone, where they faced live gunfire, and expressed pride in its selection by the Library of Congress, recognizing the film’s significance and Bigelow’s fearless leadership. Read Mackie’s full comments below:

Nobody knew The Hurt Locker was going to be The Hurt Locker when we wrapped that movie. We were mostly shooting about four miles from the Iraqi border and this was 2007 when things were really H๏τ in the Middle East. There were days we were out there, like one day we were in the Humvee and all of a sudden somebody starts shooting at the Humvee in the middle of the desert and the radio crackles and they’re like, “Everybody turn off the Humvee. Get down.” It’s like, “Oh sнιт,” right? Stuff like that, because we were in the middle of a real war zone.

So for it to be selected and be looked at as such an important film really means a lot knowing what we went through to make it and having a fearless leader like Kathryn [Bigelow] really added to that. She’s one of those directors that really gives you everything you need and never gets in your way. It was a great experience, but it was great to learn that it was it was selected.

What The Hurt Locker’s Filming Dangers Meant For The Movie

It Achieved Authenticity

When filming The Hurt Locker, director Kathryn Bigelow aimed to replicate the atmosphere of a real war zone. She originally wanted to film in Iraq, though their production security team wasn’t able to ensure their safety from insurgents, so they ended up shooting in Jordan, with some locations just miles from the Iraqi border and active conflict areas. Bigelow’s fearless leadership earned her the Academy Award for Best Director and, in 2020, The Hurt Locker was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Source: Esquire