10 Awesome Actors Who Don't Get Enough Credit
3. Anthony Mackie
Advertisement
Why He's Awesome... Appearing in the 2008 film The Hurt Locker, Anthony Mackie has been winding his way up the acting ranks for years. It's been paying off, and he just played a president's best friend in the well known film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. He was an adviser to Matt Damon in The Adjustment Bureau, and a renegade cop alongside Ryan Gosling in Gangster Squad. Earlier in career, he found consistent jobs as main and background characters for a variety of films. He's done both light and serious acting; his filmography is in no way bare, and he's moving up the world. Yet He Isn't Given Credit For... Mackie has the same roadblock that most non-white actors have, especially when they are trying to break from "awesome" to "well known and widely respected". People praise him, not as much as he deserves, but they do. But through these praises, or laments that he hasn't become a bigger star yet, comments about who he will replace inevitably crop up. While reading about him and trying to assess his actual fame level, the amount of comments with the theme "finally, someone to replace the aging Will Smith/Denzel Washington/Samuel L. Jackson", or even as blatant as "there are no black actors under 40!" I ran into was staggering. While it is true that younger actors need a market to fill before they can become a star, the plight of Hollywood having actors who age, whatever their race, has very little to do with Mackie's individual talent. For one thing, the idea that there are no young male black actors to find is ludicrous. Mackie is not the last hope for the continued existence of black actors. Second, Mackie is a good actor, plain and simple. He doesn't need to replace anybody or be a last hope to prove that. Mackie shouldn't get credit because people think he's good enough to fill a spot they erroneously see as in danger, he should be given credit and reach new levels of fame for delivering good performances, and being an awesome actor to watch.