Anthony Mackie reveals Will Smith accidentally punched him in the face during celebrations for the latter's 50th birthday in 2018. Mackie, best known as Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is currently doing the promotional rounds for his latest sci-fi action movie Outside the Wire. Mackie plays Leo, a human cyborg/AI hybrid who takes Damson Idris' drone pilot, Lieutenant Thomas Harp, under his wing in a warzone soon. The movie drops on Netflix this Friday, January 15.
The movie, directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, also stars Game of Thrones' Pilou Asbæk, House of Cards' Michael Kelly, and Into the Badlands' Emily Beecham. It was shot in Budapest in 2018, around the same time Will Smith's 2019 action movie Gemini Man, which saw the star portraying both a young and middle-aged version of his character, was shooting in the same city. That movie was one of the biggest flops of 2019, representing a recent low point for the actor, who experienced massive success with his other two most recent films, Aladdin and Bad Boys for Life. As it turns out, Mackie and Smith crossed paths while shooting their respective movies, and it wasn't all good.
Speaking on the Jess Cagle show, Mackie tells the hilarious story of how Smith almost floored him with a punch during Smith's 50th birthday. Mackie says he was at Smith's birthday, presenting his cake to him, and Smith reacted to seeing him, ran over, and instead of hugging or high-fiving, the pair got mixed up, and Smith punched him in the jaw by mistake. Mackie jokes that Smith hit him so hard it must have been deliberate, calling him "an angry" man. Mackie then adds that he's proud to say he managed to take a punch from Mohammad Ali, referring to Smith's Oscar-nominated role as the legendary fighter. You can read Mackie's full story below:
So, funny story. Will Smith shot, what's the movie. He had a movie come out last year, Gemini Man, and he shot it in Budapest. So, it was his 50th birthday. And my publicist called me and she's like: "Yo, Will Smith is having a birthday party in Budapest. Do you want to present his birthday cake to him?" So, I'm like: "Holy s--t yes. It's Will Smith! Of course." So, we're all on stage. Will Smith does like a whole concert. I'm on stage with Will Smith doing a concert. I'm losing my mind, right? So, the cake comes out, we bring the cake out. Will Smith sees me and he goes, "Hey, Anthony Mackie!" I'm like, "Will Smith knows my name!" Right? So, I go to like high five. I don't know what I was trying to do, but like, I was trying to hug him and he thought I was coming in for like a high five. So, he like tried to grab my arm and he punched me in the jaw so hard. He hit me with a right cross so hard. Then he grabbed me and he's like, "you good?" I was like, "I think so. I think we're in a fight, are we in a fight?" He's like, "no, no, I'm sorry." He punched me in the jaw. Will Smith punched me the jaw. He's an angry human being [laughs]. I know he meant to do it, there is no way you mess up a hug with a punch in the jaw. Yo, he has a right cross man. Protect yourself. Because dude came in. I mean, woo! It was a punch, but I took a punch from Mohammad Ali. I can say it.
It sounds like it was all sorted out in the end, and Mackie can indeed be proud of being able to take a punch from a man who was trained to fight like Ali. Whether Outside The Wire can get better reviews than Gemini Man remains to be seen, as the trailer makes the film look like a B-grade actioner, much like Smith's movie was. As for Mackie, he'll quickly shift focus from Outside the Wire back to the MCU once the movie's promo period is over.
Mackie is leading Marvel's hotly-anticipated live-action Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will see Mackie reprising his most iconic role. The show pairs Mackie with Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, and though little is known about the plot, what is known is that the characters are getting new suits. For now, though, Mackie seems to be happy that he survived Smith's punch while shooting Outside The Wire.
Source: Jess Cagle show/YouTube