Anthony Mackie opened up about his experiences playing Falcon in Marvel movies that consist of a mostly white production crew.
During an interview with Daveed Diggs for Variety’s Actor on Actor issue, the actor discussed how the current Black Lives Matter movement is putting a spotlight on the need for diversity when staffing such blockbuster hits.
“It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white,” the 41-year-old began.
“We’ve had one Black producer — his name was Nate Moore,” Mackie continued. “He produced ‘Black Panther.’ But then when you do ‘Black Panther,’ you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer. And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else.”
“Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?”
He went on to say the change can start with the hiring practices, even if it means using a percentage system to get new people more experience.
“My big push with Marvel is hire the best person for the job,” Mackie said. “Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men. Fine. I’m cool with those numbers for the next 10 years. Because it starts to build a new generation of people who can put something on their resume to get them other jobs.”
“If we’ve got to divvy out as a percentage, divvy it out. And that’s something as leading men that we can go in and push for.”
Diggs confirmed the need for having such conversations about more diversity, saying it has now become a part of the production of “Snowpiercer,” as he is the Black lead for the series.
“Going forward, how do we get the conversation to elevate ’cause it’s happening anyway. Because the nature of my body in the place is causing it to happen.”
Mackie agreed, as he is the lead for his upcoming series “Falcon and Winter Soldier,” which he said will allow for more dialogue about diversity on set as well.
“We have the power and the ability to ask those questions.”
