We all get knocked down sometimes, even Marvel’s new Captain America, Anthony Mackie, has taken some hits.
In an interview with Men’s Health, Mackie revealed that he took a yearlong break from acting after being snubbed for an Academy Award nomination for his turn in 2009’s The Hurt Locker.
Appearing as rule-following sergeant J. T. Sanborn in the film, Mackie said it hurt being snubbed by the Academy.
“I put everything in that movie,” he said. “That little f–ker matters. We try to protect ourselves and say, ‘I’m doing the work for the work.’ But when that happened with Hurt Locker, it hurt. I had to take a year off of work.”
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Mackie said he spent most of his yearlong hiatus restoring a 1964 Mustang at home in his garage—his own version of self-care.
“I sat in my garage and I built a car,” he said. “It was very, very therapeutic.”
Fortunately, Mackie bounced back spectacularly. He landed a role in Marvel’s Avengers franchise, appearing as Captain America’s (Chris Evans) right-hand man Sam Wilson, also known as Falcon.
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He also recently earned praise for his turn in Black Mirror‘s eyebrow-raising episode titled “Striking Vipers.”
And now that Captain America has passed his shield on to Falcon, there’s a whole new chapter ahead for Mackie in the Marvel Universe.
“[It] was like winning the Oscar. I was nervous. I was excited. I was stumbling over words,” Mackie said.
Still, with his new vibranium shield comes great responsibility and a little bit of a workout.
“It’s unbalanced,” Mackie added. “And it’s heavy.”