-We're back with
Anthony Mackie, everybody.
Anthony, we have something
in common. We were both --
we both worked
at grocery stores,
I was a bag boy.
That was my first job.
-Yeah, I --
-What did you do?
-I did overnight stock.
But I got fired
because I kept --
I specifically asked for
the baby food aisle every night.
So I kept eating
all the baby food,
so I would have whole meals,
like, the peas with the
potatoes, and beef and carrots,
and I would just kill it, dude.
I would come back
and I'd be like --
-Baby food Thanksgiving.
-Right, and I would take
all the empty containers
and put them behind the stuff
that I was stocking.
That's when they caught on
to fat Mackie.
I go through and eat it all.
[ Laughs ]
-I was a bag boy forever,
and I was great.
And people would request me.
They would come --
They'd be on a different line.
They'd go,
"I got to get that kid.
That guy knows what's up,
eggs on top, eggs on top."
-Right.
-But you started this fund,
or worked with people
to start this fund.
Talk about the Grocery Workers
Relief Fund.
-Well, you know, it was
important to me.
I realized during
the whole pandemic,
I've been in the grocery store
three to four times a week,
and you're talking about people
who are working hourly wages.
People who mostly
live check to check.
A lot of kids who are working
to put more money
into their parents' household,
just trying to help, you know.
And they're risking their lives
for basically minimum wage.
So we put this fund together
with United Way,
the New Orleans Council for
Aging, Entergy of New Orleans,
and you go to the United Way of
Southeastern Louisiana website
and you donate
to the grocery store.
We're asking everybody for
every time during the pandemic,
you've been to the grocery
store, give $1.
Right, if you've been
to the grocery store
three times, give $3.
If you haven't been, give $1.
But we're asking people,
so what we're going to do
is we're going to give all
the grocery store workers
a $150 stipend
towards their energy.
Because when all this is over,
you're going to have two
to three months
of energy bills piled up.
And we're talking about people
who live check to check.
So they can't afford
that amount.
So I started it all. I donated
$50,000 toward the fund.
Entergy matched my $50,000,
so we have $100,000
that we're donating 100%
towards grocery store workers'
electric bills,
and we're asking everyone
to help out as much as you can.
Like I said, a dollar
for every time
you've been to the store
would be a massive help.
-Thank you for doing this.
I do want to talk about a film
that you --
it's a documentary
that you executive produced.
-Yeah.
-And you appear in.
It's from one of your teachers.
-Yeah.
Moni Yakim.
It was a duo actually.
It was Moni
and his wife Mina Yakim.
And Moni was a mystical man.
He would always come in class
with this black shirt,
black T-shirt,
black pants, black shoes,
and he would just like float
around the room,
because he was our movement
teacher at Juilliard,
but the way he possessed his
body, his movement, his nature.
I mean, he was just
like a ninja.
-Sorry to be ignorant.
What is a movement teacher?
-[ Laughs ] See,
the things you laugh about,
and say the weird actor stuff.
That's basically
the movement teacher.
He's the one
who puts us in a circle,
and we have to float --
we have to act like
we can touch the air
and all this stuff.
-Oh,yeah.
Be a tree.
-Yeah.
-The ice cream cone.
-But him, because he started off
as a mime in France
before he came to America,
he taught us
all this amazing mime work
and all this physical work
so that we can
control our bodies
and bring emotion
through our bodies
and focus almost like dance
in a way,
but more mime and physical life
as opposed to dance.
-I think it's such a great story
going from the first part
of our interview,
talking about who sacrificed
and worked to get you
to where you are
to how proud they must be of you
because not only
have you crushed it,
and really, I mean, crushed it,
you are the first
black Captain America.
-Yeah.
-What?!
Dude, that's the best sentence
I could ever say.
-[ Laughs ]
-I mean,
it's got to feel amazing.
-Yeah, it's funny. Every day,
I love my sisters.
And every day, my sisters
remind me that there's nothing
but God got me from
where I was to where I am.
They're like, "Yo, there's
no reason why you should be
this successful.
There's no reason."
[ Laughter ]
-No, you deserve it.
You deserve it, man.
Do your kids look at you
differently?
Do they go like, "Wow!
You're Captain America"?
-No.
I mean, kids are interesting,
because you know, as a parent,
all you want
is your kids' acceptance.
You know, all you want --
I don't care about anybody else.
My kids are like,
"Dad, that was a good movie."
It's a good movie, you know.
But my kids are so over it.
Like, they just --
they just really --
if it's --
when it comes to snacks and
play time, nothing else matters.
That's all they want to know,
if the snack is good.
-What's happening
with the Disney+ series?
Any movement?
I know the quarantine
stopped everything, right?
-Well, I'm happy to say
we're not cancelled.
We are on hold.
So we're going back hopefully
sometime soon and finish it up.
We have very little stuff to do,
but it's -- it's looking --
I'm very happy with it.
We have a little bit more
to go back and do,
but everybody rest assured,
it will come out.
We are not canceled.
In the business where people
are like,
"Hey, take a little break.
We'll come back to it."
That means they're never
coming back to it.
[ Laughter ]
-You might as well say goodbye.
"I'll never see
that person again."
-Right, I'm like,
"Man, I was Captain America
for all of two weeks.
This sucks.
How did I get fired
on my day off?"
-That's not fair.
Well, when it comes out,
I'd love to talk to you again,
and whenever you want to.
You know
you have an open invitation.
I love you, man, hug your
family, and please,
I can't wait to see you
in person.
Okay? Stay safe.
-Thank you.
-Thank you so much. Bye, bud.
