Anthony Mackie is well aware of his track record of boosting his white male co-stars’ award recognition.
The Marvel star joined Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, where Fallon congratulated him on his Emmy nomination for his role in Seth Rogen’s The Studio. But Mackie admitted his first reaction was to assume the nod went to someone else.
“I’m on set… and I look over and everybody’s like ‘Congratulations!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, what white dude got nominated?’” Mackie recalled. “Because I’m the white dude legend when it comes to nominations and wins. I made Ryan Gosling famous. I made Jeremy Renner famous. I made Bryan Cranston famous. I now made Ron Howard famous! I’m like, if you want to get nominated, I’m the dude. You know what I mean?”
Anthony Mackie has faced repeated snubs from awards voters throughout his career. He starred alongside Ryan Gosling in 2006’s Half Nelson, which earned Gosling an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Two years later, he appeared next to Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker, which won Best Picture and landed Renner a Best Actor Oscar nod.
In 2016, Mackie portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in HBO’s All the Way opposite Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson, a performance that secured Cranston an Emmy nomination. Most recently, Mackie starred alongside Ron Howard in The Studio, with both actors earning Emmy nods for their roles.
Mackie has been vocal about being overlooked, telling Esquire earlier this year, “I know I’ve done at least four performances that could have been nominated—if not for a Golden Globe, then an Oscar or an Emmy. Captain America is my Oscar, because I’ve been overlooked so many times in my career.”
He previously revealed to Men’s Health in 2020 that he took a year off from acting after missing out on a supporting actor Oscar nomination for The Hurt Locker, saying he had “put everything” into that role.
For The Studio, Mackie is nominated for guest actor in a comedy series alongside Howard, Cranston, and Dave Franco. Seth Rogen’s Apple TV+ series earned 23 nominations in total, becoming the most-nominated freshman comedy ever.
