Anthony Mackie may be making his boyhood dreams come true as avenger Falcon in the Captain America franchise, but there’s another role he’s lusting after: a Western where he can chew some tobacco with a pistol on his hip.
“Like, me and Clint Eastwood on a horse, riding through the desert. I’ll hold him around the waist. ‘Ride on, Clint,’” said Mackie on Friday at the Middle East Film & Comic Con.
The actor, 38, was the headlining guest of this year’s convention, which marked its sixth edition at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Watch: Anthony Mackie who plays Falcon in the MCU talks to press at #MEFCC.
He was joined on stage by wrestling champion Kane, Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, Heroes alum Greg Grunberg and Canadian voice actor Cas Anvar.
The fivesome discussed their dream roles; not one to be left out, Kane chimed in: “A romantic comedy — not with Clint Eastwood.” (The 6’8 fighter, who was dressed in his signature red mask during the conference, also spoke about the recent retirement of The Undertaker.
“A lot of people said their childhood was over, and mine felt like it was.”)
Meanwhile, Cunningham said he would like to star in a sci-fi production, such as Star Trek, and Anvar, who stars in the costly and visually impressive sci-fi series The Expanse (it costs upwards of $6million — Dh22 million) — to film an episode, according to him), put Mackie on the spot and asked if he could get him into a Marvel production.
“Just stay away from craft service. That’s the hardest part. That’s it, just chilling at Craft service all day,” Mackie quipped.
Grunberg, however, had more modest aspirations: “Can’t there be a superhero who goes from doughnut shop to doughnut shop, flying around with a big C on his chest? Carb man.”
He added that he would love to work with Tom Hanks again, as the pair previously featured in The Ladykillers but didn’t share any scenes together.
When it came to talking about Avengers: Infinity Wars, coming out next year, and Game of Thrones season seven, both Mackie and Cunningham kept mum.
“I can’t talk about season seven. I realise you have to ask the question, but you have to realise I can’t answer them,” said Cunningham.
Mackie went down memory lane and remembered his early days as part of the Marvel franchise.
“When I found out I was gonna be an avenger, it felt like I won an Oscar,” he said. “They flew me out to London. They’re like, we need you for six days.”
On set, they told him to “fly in, land and just look really cool.” They shot it four times before they flew him back home.
“I thought they were shooting that as a promo for the next movie,” he said. Then he attended the Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) premiere, and experienced the big reveal along with everyone else when Captain America, played by Chris Evans, turned around and said the famed words, “Avengers, assemble.”
“I was like, holy [expletive]. I’m an avenger.”
In a post-conference interview, Mackie said he has visited every country in the Middle East, including Syria, Yemen and Egypt, and remembered visiting the UAE in 2007, of which he recalled “only two buildings and a highway.”
*MEFCC began on Thursday and runs until Saturday.
