It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Anthony Mackie‘s career is currently flying higher than it ever has before, thanks largely to his recurring role as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Sam Wilson.
Not only has starring in a string of successful films, many of which rank among the highest-grossing titles in the history of cinema, opened up plenty of doors, but he’s also just finished headlining a smash hit Disney Plus exclusive that also happened to establish him as the new Captain America. Things are looking pretty rosy for the actor, then, but in a recent interview, Mackie revealed the one thing that makes him nervous when it comes to all of his recent successes.
“I’m 21 years in. I got nervous by the idea of becoming complacent with the business. It’s like, ‘Hey, you’re an Avenger. You can show up, say your lines and go to Jamaica for a week!’. You get to a point where the work isn’t as fun, or it isn’t as important as the press and the recognition or Instagram, and I’ve been trying to get back to the point of being aware of who Anthony Mackie was when he first got in the business.”
You can certainly understand where he’s coming from, when we’ve seen countless talents over the years take it a little too easy after making it to the top of the A-list, but it’s not as though the 42 year-old has been resting on his laurels. In fact, Anthony Mackie has been busier than ever as of late, with his increased status and standing in the industry clearly leading to a significant bump in offers.
Since the beginning of 2019 alone, he’s appeared in sci-fi Io, action thriller Miss Bala, Avengers: Endgame, buddy movie Point Blank, the existential Synchronic, political biopic Seberg, legal drama The Banker, Netflix smash hit Outside the Wire, mystery The Woman in the Window, season 2 of Altered Carbon, an episode of Black Mirror and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, while he can currently be seen in Amazon’s star-studded anthology series Solos, so it’s not as if the MCU’s Captain America has put his feet up and taken it easy.