Anthony Mackie Once Felt Movies Like 'Soul Plane' Were Harmful to Black Actors
Anthony Mackie saw his career skyrocket after his 8 Mile role. But was very cautious about the types of films he did afterwards.
Especially since he felt there were certain movies that did more harm than good for black actors.
Anthony Mackie felt that there were many limitations placed on Black actors
Mackie hasn’t minced words when it came to discussing the challenges young actors faced. He believed that Black actors faced particularly difficult circumstances they needed to overcome to legitimize themselves in Hollywood. Although difficult, Mackie didn’t feel defeating those challenges was impossible. And his work was the proof of that.
“There are a lot of limitations and stigmas that are placed on young actors, specifically young black actors,” Mackie once told The Guardian. “But I think there’s a way of breaking out of that if you keep yourself open to the fold. You can’t limit yourself. I’ve done a bunch of movies where they were written for white actors or they were written for just an actor.”
Anthony Mackie felt films like ‘Soul Plane’ were potentially harmful to Black actors
When it comes to making films, Mackie has a certain standard that he prefers his films to aspire to. She Hate Me, which was directed by Spike Lee, was one of the films that Mackie felt met those standards.
Mackie felt that movies like She Hate Me offered a different experience than films like like Soul Plane. He believed the latter movie contributed to a bigger problem in Hollywood.
“Granted, there’s a huge amount of people that want to see a movie like [She Hate Me], but there’s a far cry between Soul Plane and The Terminal. There’s a far cry between Casino and Player’s Club, but the sad thing about [it] is, people still went and saw Soul Plane,” Mackie once said according to Black Film. “The sad thing about it is, it was a minority that directed it, and it was minorities that starred in the film.”
Mackie felt the existence of movies like Soul Plane showcased that the morals of minorities were at an all time low. He also cautioned that actors choosing to do films like Soul Plane could have detrimental consequences on their careers. This was partially why Mackie was so selective with the roles he accepted.
“When I was offered the role in The Manchurian Candidate, which put me on the set for a month watching Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Jonathan Demme, and Jeffrey Wright work on a gritty dense piece of text, for a month, which gave me lines, but it wasn’t about the lines. I got offered this other job which offered me loads of money and I was the lead with some MTV video director. See what I’m saying. Your choices will shape the scope of your career,” Mackie explained.
Anthony Mackie felt there was no reason why African-American actors couldn’t tell their own stories in Hollywood
Mackie felt that many Black entertainers and executives had the ability to tell stories in cinema related to the African-American experience. All it required was a bit of effort. But the Marvel star thought the work ethic needed was lacking for that to happen.
“I think right now [blacks] are being kinda lazy on our game,” Mackie once told Vanity Fair (via The Grio). “There are enough brothers with distribution deals and production deals where we should be making our own movies.”
He pointed to other notable Black celebrities who were able to build off of their fame and fortune.
“Oprah got her own network,” Mackie added. “Michael Jordan own a franchise. We got black money. So there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to tell the stories that we want to tell and portray ourselves the way we want to be portrayed.”
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