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Marvel Cinematic Universe star Anthony Mackie recently said on The Tonight Show that he has a prowess for making his white co-stars famous and earning them nominations. Mackie was on the show to promote the second season of his Peacock series Twisted Metal, which he certainly doesn’t have to worry about earning any nominations, whether for him, his co-stars, or the production in general.
Anthony Mackie was referring to the fact that some of his white co-stars over the years after earned nominations after starring in a project with him. Mackie costarred with Ryan Gosling in 2006’s Half Nelson, which earned Gosling his first Oscar nomination, and also starred alongside Jeremy Renner in 2008’s The Hurt Locker, which won Best Picture and scored Renner a Best Actor nom at the Academy Awards.
Additionally, on television, he played Martin Luther King Jr. across Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon B. Johnson in the HBO film All the Way, for which Cranston was an Emmy nominee, and most recently appeared with Ron Howard in The Studio, with Howard getting a Guest Star nomination at the Emmys.
Anthony Mackie ‘jokes’ that his white co-stars become more famous/acclaimed after they make a project together
“I’m on set… and I look over and everybody’s like ‘Congratulations!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, what white dude got nominated?’ 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?” Mackie said on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the celebrity interview equivalent of being fed applesauce with a rubber spoon.
Now, while Mackie’s comments were presented as a joke when he said them on The Tonight Show, context is key here, as Mackie has been known to say things in a joking tone when he’s actually dead serious about them — such as asking Marvel Studios for a romantic subplot between his Sam Wilson and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, or when he ripped on a journalist for liking Man of Steel.
What this likely means is that two things are true at once: Mackie probably things it’s a funny aside to drop during a late-night spot, while he also, in his heart of hearts, probably believes it’s true.