More recently, Anthony Mackie has become a household name, but this was not always the case. The 46-year-old actor got his start in the early 2000s, when he played a couple of one-off TV show characters as well as supporting parts in films. This included roles in Jonathan Demme’s The Manchurian Candidate and Spike Lee’s She Hate Me.

Things took a turn for Mackie when he made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2014 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, playing the franchise’s Sam Wilson/The Falcon. Mackie would go on to reprise this role in Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, and more.

Most recently, Mackie was seen as Sam Wilson in this year’s Captain America: Brave New World. While the film saw a lackluster box office, it did work to help establish Sam as a critical part of the MCU’s next phase, as he forms his own Avengers group.

But long before his MCU debut, Mackie was in a key movie that won multiple Oscars. Now, the actor explains how he almost didn’t get that part.

Anthony Mackie Almost Missed His Chance For The Hurt Locker

Mackie recently recalled how a career mistake almost caused him to lose out on his role in The Hurt Locker. Mackie plays Sergeant JT Sanborn, a key role in this Kathryn Bigelow film; the part was essential in introducing Mackie to a wider audience.

The Hurt Locker is also the most successful movie in Mackie’s career in terms of the awards circuit. The Hurt Locker won Best Picture and made Oscar history through Bigelow’s win for Best Director, as she became the first woman ever to win the coveted award. Its other Oscar wins include Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing.

Speaking with Variety, Mackie explained how he almost lost his Hurt Locker role. Mackie revealed that he had to “pull out of Hurt Locker” due to a movie going over schedule that was helmed by “possibly the worst director ever to direct.” This movie never even came out, but it might have cost him his other role.

In the meantime, Bigelow and her team offered the part to another actor. However, this actor “said no because it wasn’t enough money,” and the production welcomed Mackie back to the set. Check out the full quote from Mackie below:

Hurt Locker is probably one of the most important acting experiences I had. We sH๏τ that in 2007, and I remember I was doing a movie in North Carolina with quite possibly the worst director to ever direct. Ironically, because of that the movie never came out.

Because of that, the movie went over and I had to pull out of Hurt Locker. They offered it to somebody else, and he said no because it wasn’t enough money.

I went from this sucky director who had no business in being in the business or in the director’s chair to Kathryn Bigelow. The moment I landed in Amman, Jordan, we hit the ground running [with] cultural research, military research, character studies – the real work a director does. It really was poignant to me the type of people I want to work with and the type of people who shouldn’t be working.

What This Means For Anthony Mackie

The end of Mackie’s quote says it all in terms of what kind of impact The Hurt Locker had on him. He described the process positively, noting the confident “cultural research” and “military research,” all of which he called “the real work a director does.”

Roles like these earned Mackie respect and eventually led to the star becoming the A-lister he is today. As Mackie continues his MCU career, fans will still want to see him sprinkle in some more potential Oscar roles like The Hurt Locker along the way.

Source: Variety