Morgan Freeman is among Hollywood’s oldest and most widely acclaimed and celebrated actors of all time. Renowned for his roles in super hit movies like The Shawshank Redemption (1994), the 86-year-old actor has starred with several other renowned actors, including Anthony Mackie.
When Anthony Mackie and Morgan Freeman came together to star in the superhit movie, Million Dollar Baby in 2004, Mackie joked about how Freeman wouldn’t stop hurting him throughout the filming of the movie.
Also Read: “Rip to most comic accurate MCU suit”: Anthony Mackie’s New Captain America 4 Suit Triggers Internet
Morgan Freeman Beat Up Anthony Mackie While Filming Million Dollar Baby
Anthony Mackie is widely known for his role as the Falcon in the Marvel Comic Universe. However, before he became globally acclaimed, Mackie was offered to star alongside Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby, directed by the famous Clint Eastwood in 2004.
Feeling honored to work with a great actor like Freeman, the Marvel star thought he’d learn a lot from his idol. However, sharing his thoughts about filming later, Anthony Mackie joked how Morgan Freeman wouldn’t stop hurting him on the sets of the Oscar-winning movie. He said,
“He was supposed to be fake punching me, right? But he was punching me for real. And there’s nothing like old black dude country strength. It hurt so bad. And I would go to Clint Eastwood and say, ‘Yo! Morgan is hitting me for real.’ And Clint would say, ‘OK, I’ll talk to him.’ And him and Morgan would be in the corner laughing together, and we’d do another take and he’d punch me again! It was a lesson learnt and also a great experience.”
All in all, what Anthony Mackie thought would be an ‘inspirational’ experience with his idols actually turned out to be a rather brutal and hilarious one, even if the Marvel actor admitted it to be a ‘great experience’ for himself.
Morgan Freeman’s Invaluable Advice to Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie’s official breakthrough into Hollywood was through his performance in the 8 Mile movie. However, after starring in that movie, Mackie became conscious of the roles he took afterward, even turning down several opportunities that weren’t to his liking.
While this was mostly the Marvel star’s choice, Morgan Freeman too might’ve played a significant role in it. Anthony Mackie shared an invaluable piece of advice that Freeman gave him, that’s been helping him throughout his career. He recalled Freeman telling him,
“When Hollywood wants you they’ll come get you. And when they come get you they’ll pay for you. But right now, work on your craft.”
Mackie claims he always remembers this advice while picking projects and that he even got it printed and stuck to his wall. Thanks to Morgan Freeman’s crucial piece of advice, Anthony Mackie believes his career has become better with his position in Hollywood getting stronger with each movie project he takes.
You can watch Million Dollar Baby on HBO Max.
Source: CheatSheet
