'Captain America: Civil War' Interview: Anthony Mackie Didn't Know He Was An Avenger Til The Last Minute

No one is happier to be an Avenger than Anthony Mackie. The guy oozes energy and charisma, and is easily the most fun to interview out of the entire cast of Captain America: Civil War. While on the set of the comic book sequel in Atlanta, Georgia, we talked to the actor who plays Captain America's sidekick Falcon, and Mackie did not disappoint with his responses to our questions, and we even answered one of his questions.

After the jump, find out how Anthony Mackie didn't know that he was an Avenger until he actually saw the premiere of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, whether or not Falcon is still recommending music to Steve Rogers, and if he's prepared to pick up the shield should something happen to Steve Rogers sometime down the road. All that and more in our Captain America Civil War interview with Anthony Mackie below.

As we know, Marvel likes to keep things secret, and it turns out that even some of their actors aren't even privy to certain details. In fact, Anthony Mackie wasn't even aware of the context of the quick scene he shot for Avengers: Age of Ultron, the final shot where the new team of Avengers assembles at their new headquarters. Mackie explained:

They never send you the whole script. Like when they asked me to do Avengers [Age of Ultron] they sent me two scenes. There are two hours and seven minutes around those two scenes, but I never got to read it.

When we were at the premiere I was like 'Cool.' I'm with my son and he gets to see his daddy in two scenes in The Avengers. By the end of the movie I turn around and they're like 'Avengers Assemble!' I'm like, 'Holy s***! I'm an Avenger!' So I turn around to everybody with me and they were like, 'Dude! You're a f***in' Avenger!' 'This is f***in' amazing.' So, that's the story of my Marvel life.

It's a little hard to believe that something like that would escape Mackie, but there's a good chance that Marvel keeps things like that on a need-to-know basis. Mackie elaborated on what it was like to shoot that scene with no frame of reference for what he was really shooting:

I had no idea. I flew in, Chris [Evans] and Scarlett [Johansson] are up top and the rest of us are standing there. It was like 'Cut. Anthony fly in. Action. Hrm-hrm-hrm. Cut. Alright, thanks!' That was pretty much it. Six months later you go to a premiere and you s*** yourself.

That undoubtedly has to be a cool experience, and it's a great payoff when Mackie talks about how silly he feels when he's on set for certain sequences.

While talking about the action on set, Anthony Mackie talks about how the trademark element of his character, the wings, aren't even part of his practical suit:

They 100% add all the wings. I realized yesterday how stupid we look. They're 'We need you to run, but before you break into a full run pop your arms out so your wings can extend and you'll fly.' I was like, 'Okay, alright. I'm 36. Let's do it.' We were running and it's so hot. It's balls hot. So, I'm running and my goggles are filling up with water, right? I don't know how women do this, but it's torture. The makeup starts getting into the corners of my eyes, so I start crying. It's so hot... I can't really see anything and they're like 'So, hold your arms out and just... fly away.' I was like, 'Let's just do it, dude. F*** it, let's do it.'

So, the wings are real in my mind not on set. They have these little wings, like these little three foot wings. I do this s***, then I have to do it with the little wings, so I look like a quail or a pheasant. It's whatever. I'm happy about it. I'm happy to be an Avenger!

Sometimes we forget about that element of acting in movies like this. It's just a big expensive imaginary game where the actors have to picture a lot of the big moments in their head and react to nothing.

On the next page, Anthony Mackie talks about recommending music to Captain America, as well as Chris Evans, and whether or not he can see Falcon picking up the shield if the opportunity ever presented itself in the future.

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there was a nice moment when Sam Wilson recommended the Trouble Man soundtrack as something that Steve Rogers needed to go out of his way to check out in an effort to catch up with the times. So does he have any suggestions for Cap this time around? Sadly, that doesn't happen, but that doesn't mean Mackie isn't still recommending music to Chris Evans, who he says has very weird taste in music:

He's an interesting guy, that Chris Evans. I've tried to help him understand... the greatest band in music history, pound for pound, they invented the crescendo... Earth, Wind & Fire. I don't care what nobody says, I've never been sitting on my couch and was like, 'Man! Put on that Doobie Brothers CD!' Never happened. And I love the Doobie Brothers, alright? Never happened, alright?

Earth, Wind & Fire is the greatest band of all time. If you don't believe it and have iTunes I will give you forty bucks. Download forty songs and it'll blow your mind. Blow your mind, alright? Greatest songwriter of all time, pound for pound, I don't care what nobody says... I don't care about his children... Lionel Richie. I don't care what nobody say. I don't care. I never was on my couch and was like, 'Man! Barry Manilow made me cry!' Never happened. Lionel Richie. Earth, Wind & Fire. That's it.

In our interview with Chris Evans, as he was leaving our little press room, he jested about Mackie's favorite Beatles song, clearly indicating where his musical allegiances lie. And Anthony Mackie just doesn't get it:

It confuses the s*** outta me! How do you... It's Lionel Richie. I guarantee you, I put on 'Say You Say Me' you're going to say 'Damn. I need to text her right now.' I guarantee you! If I put on Dancing On The Ceiling you're going to go, 'S***. Ugggggghhh.' Because all you're going to want to do is 'Whooo!' F*** that. Lionel Richie.

You can't get a girl with Lionel Richie? You a loser. All of my high school years, every time I wrote a girl a note it was literally sixteen bars of Lionel Richie and then I would sign it 'Anthony Mackie.' She would be, 'Oh, my God. You're such a poet.' I said, 'I know, baby. I know. So cultured. I'm a poet. I'm just a renaissance man in my heart. I can build shelves and I can write poetry.'

I think it goes without saying that this is one of the best set visit interviews I've ever had. Anthony Mackie is just hilarious and genuine. We could have talked to him for hours. But Mackie is a busy guy, and he wouldn't mind getting busier in the future if someone asked him to become Captain America – something that Falcon eventually does in the comic books.

At one time, Anthony Mackie said that he couldn't see Falcon as Captain America in the Marvel cinematic universe, but when we asked about his feelings nowadays, he seems to have changed his tune:

No, no, no. I definitely see him as Cap. I mean, I have the comic books. It's more... I really enjoy coming to work with the people I work with and I'd rather be in a great movie with a bunch of cool people than a standalone superhero movie with just me standing there looking like a f***ing idiot.

I mean, not too many people can say they love what they do and they really like the people they work with. I mean, Sebastian [Stan] is my dude. Chris is my dude. Paul [Rudd] has become my dude. Jeremy [Renner] has been my dude for almost 10 years now. You get to come to work with your friends!

I did a movie last year that Paul Bettany directed. If you take all that away just so I could be number one on a call sheet? My ego is well intact. I'm really cool with being that tall [holds up fingers an inch apart] on the poster.

But if it happens... I'll s*** myself again.

If you liked reading what Mackie had to say, especially his off-the-cuff remarks and jests, I recommend reading the full interview on the last page. There are plenty more great moments, including Anthony Mackie learning what Grindr is, that are worth reading.

We saw in Ultron that Falcon gets to be an Avenger. Do we find out in this movie what that means to him to now be a part of this team?

Anthony Mackie: Definitely. I think the Russos and everybody are very specific about the Falcon's storyline and how he feels about Steve and the rest of the Avengers. The idea of him becoming an Avenger is pretty cool. He's pretty excited about it. We definitely get an element of that in the film.

Is Anthony also very excited about that?

Anthony Mackie: Uh, yeah! It's weird. You never know. They never send you the whole script. Like when they asked me to do Avengers [Age of Ultron] they sent me two scenes. There are two hours and seven minutes around those two scenes, but I never got to read it.

When we were at the premiere I was like "Cool." I'm with my son and he gets to see his daddy in two scenes in The Avengers. By the end of the movie I turn around and they're like "Avengers Assemble!" I'm like, "HOLY S***! I'M AN AVENGER!" So I turn around to everybody with me and they were like, "Dude! You're a f***in' Avenger!" "This is f***in' amazing." So, that's the story of my Marvel life.

When you filmed that scene you had no idea of the context at all?

Anthony Mackie: I had no idea. I flew in, Chris and Scarlett are up top and the rest of us are standing there. It was like "Cut. Anthony fly in. Action. Hrm-hrm-hrm. Cut. Alright, thanks!" That was pretty much it. Six months later you go to a premiere and you s*** yourself.

Everybody was like "Why are you so excited?" I'm like, "Arrhhhahhh... I just found out I'm an Avenger!" That's pretty much how it happened over and over. That's how Cap 2 happened, over and over and over again. So, I'm used to it. I'm interested to see what's going to happen with this movie.

So what's it like being part of this team? What's the dynamic like between Falcon and the rest of them?

Anthony Mackie: It's really cool. With being an Avenger there's not really a hierarchy. Everybody gets to make decisions, everybody's put in a position to save the day as opposed to standing there while one person flies in and saves the day and you're like, "Good job!" Avengers is really a team effort.

I feel like if you watch the first one, it wasn't about Tony saving the day by flying up into the... hole? I don't know. F***. Flying into the hole with the nuke, but it was more so about everybody doing their own thing to make that happen. I feel like that theme carries on into a lot of Marvel movies, where it's a team effort as opposed to one guy's effort.

So do you recommend any more awesome music to Cap in this movie?

Anthony Mackie: I do not. I recommend music to Chris, but not Cap. [Makes a scrunchy face.] Strange taste, dawg. Strange taste. But not Cap, no.

You say there's no hierarchy in the Avengers, but Sam and Steve have a real tight connection. In this film, which is about conflict between heroes, is it fair to say that these two guys are still tight or is this going to test their bond?

Anthony Mackie: I think their relationship carries over from when I was introduced in Cap 2 and you saw a little bit of in Avengers. There's definitely a confidence and respect between the two of them. You get to see more of that. I think our relationship is more mano a mano as opposed to mano and friend. It's not so much that it's challenged, just made stronger.

In Age of Ultron Sam was sort of on the case in trying to find the Winter Soldier. Is that the case this time? Is there a side mission to track down this character?

Anthony Mackie: Um. It's... yeah. No. I can't answer that. [Laughs.]

Will we get to see Red Wing at all?

Anthony Mackie: I hope so. I hope so. I'm looking forward to it. I told you, I can't wait to see this movie! I just found out I was an Avenger, like, 3 weeks ago, dude! I have no f***in' idea!

What's something you get to do in this movie that you haven't done previous that you're excited about?

Anthony Mackie: In this movie I get to interact with everybody as opposed to just interacting with Cap. I get to continue my (un)dying love affair with Black Widow, which is good. I think moreso in this one that I didn't get to do before is become my own person. Now everyone knows who I am, so it's not "Who's the flying guy?" It's more, "Hey, Falcon's here." You get to see my relationship with everyone else has grown as opposed to being the new guy on the team.

We were talking with Jeremy [Renner] and he said everybody's getting costume upgrades. Is Falcon upgraded as well?

Anthony Mackie: Yeah, we've all been Tony Stark-erized. We've all had major upgrades to our costumes and stuff like that. Jeremy still has those indispensable arrows that come out of nowhere and just rejuvenate out of his back. And Elizabeth [Olsen] still has her angry rave thing going on. We've all had upgrades.

So Stark did those upgrades?

Anthony Mackie: I would guess. He's kinda like the guy that upgrades everything. It's either him or Hydra, so I'm pretty sure since we're with him that he did them all.

How much of your suit, like the wings, is actually physical on your person while you're shooting?

Anthony Mackie: They 100% add all the wings. I realized yesterday how stupid we look. They're "We need you to run, but before you break into a full run pop your arms out so your wings can extend and you'll fly." I was like, "Okay, alright. I'm 36. Let's do it." We were running and it's so hot. It's balls hot. So, I'm running and my goggles are filling up with water, right? I don't know how women do this, but it's torture. The makeup starts getting into the corners of my eyes, so I start crying. It's so hot... I can't really see anything and they're like "So, hold your arms out and just... fly away." I was like, "Let's just do it, dude. F*** it, let's do it." [Laughs.]

So, the wings are real in my mind not on set. They have these little wings, like these little three foot wings. I do this s***, then I have to do it with the little wings, so I look like a quail or a pheasant. It's whatever. I'm happy about it. I'm happy to be an Avenger!

There's a split between Steve and Tony. Where do you find your character? Do you immediately side with Rogers? How do you approach this disagreement?

Anthony Mackie: I think the conflict is more so between them. I don't think anyone else chooses sides. I think we're all on Steve and Tony's side. The conflict is more with them and we step back and watch it unfold.

They've talked about this being a very global movie. Is there any specific location you're excited about at all?

Anthony Mackie: The thing about Avengers 1 that was so cool was they were in New York. I was like "Damn!" I really wanted to go shoot a few days in New York, but we were, like, in Birmingham, Alabama. It was like... "Why are we shooting here? Why are we doing Atlanta for Birmingham?"

We have a bunch of different locations, but I really wanted it to be a major city like New York or L.A.

But you were in Birmingham, Alabama?

Anthony Mackie: No, why would we shoot in Birmingham? I was using that as an example. Have you ever been to Birmingham?!?

I'm from there.

Anthony Mackie: Wait, you're from Alabama or Birmingham?

Alabama.

Anthony Mackie: Are you from Birmingham, Alabama?

No.

Anthony Mackie: Alright. Go to Birmingham. It's bananas! You drive through that motherf***er and make it out alive. Yeah. Go to Birmingham. Just check it out, dawg. I drive to New Orleans once every two weeks and I hit Birmingham and I'm like [looks terrified, hands on an invisible steering wheel]. Literally just look at the front of the car. Don't look out the window. Don't look out the window.

I have this picture... There was this dude in a truck and he was hauling ass. He was in a Toyota truck, so that tells you what kind of dude he was. Who the f*** buys a Toyota truck? So, he had, like, deer legs hanging out of the back of his truck, like tied up and out. It was like one, two, three, four deers. Then there was some other animal. It wasn't a deer. The legs... I don't know what it was, but it was hanging, like he had it tied from a rack, I guess it was a gun rack, out the back window... Carcasses. Driving. And leaving a trail of blood as he drives down the highway.

Don't look, dawg. Keep going. Whatever that fifth thing is, don't look.

So, what music have you recommended to Chris?

Anthony Mackie: He's an interesting guy, that Chris Evans. I've tried to help him understand... the greatest band in music history, pound for pound, they invented the crescendo... Earth, Wind & Fire. I don't care what nobody say, I've never been sitting on my couch and was like, "Man! Put on that Doobie Brothers CD!" Never happened. And I love the Doobie Brothers, alright? Never happened, alright?

Earth, Wind & Fire is the greatest band of all time. If you don't believe it and have iTunes I will give you forty bucks. Download forty songs and it'll blow your mind. Blow your mind, alright? Greatest songwriter of all time, pound of pound, I don't care what nobody says... I don't care about his children... Lionel Richie. I don't care what nobody say. I don't care. I never was on my couch and was like, "Man! Barry Manilow made me cry!" Never happened. Lionel Richie. Earth, Wind & Fire. That's it.

But he don't believe that! And it confuses the s*** outta me! How do you... It's Lionel Richie. I guarantee you, I put on Say You Say Me you're going to say "Damn. I need to text her right now." I guarantee you! If I put on Dancing On The Ceiling you're going to go, "S***. Ugggggghhh." Because all you're going to want to do is "Whooo!" F*** that. Lionel Richie.

You can't get a girl with Lionel Richie? You a loser. All of my high school years, every time I wrote a girl a note it was literally sixteen bars of Lionel Richie and then I would sign it "Anthony Mackie." She would be, "Oh, my God. You're such a poet." I said, "I know, baby. I know. So cultured. I'm a poet. I'm just a renaissance man in my heart. I can build shelves and I can write poetry."

I don't know how we go back to the movie after this.

Anthony Mackie: [Laughs.] I'm just saying, call your girl and recite one of Shakespeare's sonnets and she's going to go "What the f*** are you talking about?" Call her and recite one Lionel Richie song. You're going to be tasing her off you. Real talk.

I don't know, maybe you don't want to taze her off. That's cool. I don't know. Maybe you don't like tazing girls off you. That's cool. Knock yourself out.

So, in this movie... [Laughs.]

Anthony Mackie: [Laughs.]

Since you mentioned that your character interacts with a lot of others, is it fun for you to see what your character makes out of folks like the Vision or some of these other characters?

Anthony Mackie: Definitely. Vision is by far the easiest person to make fun of. He's always a good target. Vision is definitely my one guy because he's easy to make fun of. And Tony Stark. I don't know why everybody thinks Tony's cool, and Tony thinks he's really cool, but Falcon just thinks he's a nerd.

And not like a cool millennium nerd. Nowadays you see a nerd and they're, like, hot chicks and they're like "I'm a nerd!" and you're like "What's up?" I'm talking about a 1985 nerd. Naw, kid. You don't win. Naw.

What's Falcon's reaction to Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch?

Anthony Mackie: Do you mean, like, in the metaphorical sense when me, Anthony who plays Falcon, saw the movie and saw Scarlet Witch in it? I went deep with that.

No, I mean the dynamic between you and them in this movie.

Anthony Mackie: Are they in this movie? Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch?

Yeah.

Anthony Mackie: Okay.

[Laughs.]

Anthony Mackie: Hey, man. If you got the script, pass it to me. I'd love to check it out. I'm sure it's a good read. [Laughs.] It's funny. I think he likes Ant-Man. Ant-Man is another character that when I see [him] in the movie I just don't get, you know? You're an ant...

I'm being used strategically to ask the audience's questions, like prime example... In Avengers [Age of Ultron] when Jeremy and Scarlet Witch are talking and he's like, "Look, we're adults. I'm wearing a suit. I have arrows. I'm not cool, but we have to go out here and fight." I feel like that's been the audience's perspective of his character since you first read the comic book.

In this movie there's some more of that as well. I'm more the audience's perspective, so when Scarlet Witch is all [does rave hands] I'm like, "You saw that? Right. Just making sure you f***in' saw that." Scarlet Witch and her crazy rave baby technique and Ant-Man and him riding an ant. Alright, cool. That's what he does, he shrinks and rides ants.

Are we going to get a glimpse at your character's personal life in any way?

Anthony Mackie: No, people don't come to Marvel movies for personal life subplots, no. If you literally are watching this movie and we go, "On a side note, Falcon is over here trying to get a date at a coffee shop," you would shoot yourself in the face. You literally would.

"Where's Falcon?" "Ah, he's at the coffee shop on Tinder again." [Laughs.] That would be the worst.

I disagree!

Anthony Mackie: [Laughs.] My non-ending quest to figure out Tinder! "How do I upload my picture? My wings don't fit!" That would be awful.

Somewhere you're going to find fan art of Falcon sitting in a coffee shop on Tinder.Probably get some art of him on Grindr, too.

Anthony Mackie: What is Grindr?

[Silence, then huge laughter.]

Anthony Mackie: If you compare it to Tinder I have a pretty good idea what Grindr is.

It's Tinder for gay guys.

Anthony Mackie: That's so awful. Who came up with that name?!?

Someone who's rich now.

Anthony Mackie: He's a sexist pig. Whoever named it Grindr is awful. Sorry, sorry. I'm gonna write him a f***in' email. Gay people aren't tender to each other. Gay people GRIND each other. That's awful.

You said before that you don't see Falcon as Captain America. Do you still believe that?

Anthony Mackie: No, no, no. I definitely see him as Cap. I mean, I have the comic books. It's more... I really enjoy coming to work with the people I work with and I'd rather be in a great movie with a bunch of cool people than a standalone superhero movie with just me standing there looking like a f***ing idiot.

I mean, not too many people can say they love what they do and they really like the people they work with. I mean, Sebastian is my dude. Chris is my dude. Paul has become my dude. Jeremy has been my dude for almost 10 years now. You get to come to work with your friends!

I did a movie last year that Paul Bettany directed. If you take all that away just so I could be number one on a call sheet? My ego is well intact. I'm really cool with being that tall [holds up fingers an inch apart] on the poster.

But if it happens... I'll s*** myself again. If it happens I will buy and rename Grindr.