Anthony Mackie

In the past 20 years, we've been living through the death of the American male. They have literally killed masculinity in our homes and our communities for one reason or another. But I raised my boys to be young men. And however you feel about that, you feel about that. But my boys will always be respectful. They will always say, yes, sir, yes, ma'am. No, sir, no, ma'am.

They will always say thank you. They will always open a door for a lady. They will always make sure that their mother is taken care and provided for. They will always be men. And that's always since they were two years old. Every time I left for a job, I tell my 15 year old, you're the man of the house. You make sure these doors are locked every night. This alarm is on.

You text me or you call me every night before you go to bed and you wake up. I love that. Because we're men. If I'm not there to protect, he got to be there to protect. Because you can have all the money in the world, climb through the window, that money means nothing. You can have all the celebrity in the world, jump through the door, that celebrity means nothing.

So you got to have a little garden there. You know? And so for me, it's always that idea of American masculinity is very different. You feel it when you go to Europe. Like, you see these and you're like, could bust your ass. You know what I mean? You know what I'm saying? You go to Europe and they're like, yeah, tight-ass pants. My boy, you better lotion your ankle.

Like, you feel it when you go to Europe. Even when you, like, I was just in Kenya and I was walking around, I'm like, Yeah. Dude was like, you ain't from here. Like, nah. Like, yeah, yeah, I can tell. I know you can. I can tell I ain't from here. You know what I mean? It's just that American male masculinity is something I think is very important for boys.

Because now our little boys are afraid to fail, so they don't try.

You make daddy a sandwich. Most of the time. No, no, no, no. Let me ask you this. Well, okay, let me ask you this. If me and you out and somebody says something slick to you, you want me to smack him in his mouth, right? That's right. So if I take you on a date and I say, look, baby, we're going to go Dutch. No. Exactly.

If we're walking up to the car and I don't open your car door, what do you say? Open the door. You better believe it.

So you make daddy a sandwich.

For me, Captain America represents a lot of different things, and I don't think the term, you know, America should be one of those representations. Like, it's about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity, and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.

This is kind of like an aspect of a dream coming true. You know, when I was a kid, you know, all of us as actors, I believe, want to get back to that day before someone told you no.

When you look out your door and you see a five-year-old kid with a stick and he's slaying dragons to save the princess in the tower, that kid really believes there are dragons out there, that stick is really a sword, and he's really trying to save that princess. And then one day, somebody told him, no, there are no dragons, that's not a sword, and that princess is not there.

And all of his little dreams were dashed. So, you know, as an actor, I feel like our job is to get back to the day where we see that dragon and we slayed that dragon to save that princess. And that's kind of what this movie was for me.

2000.

Keep my boys humble. Like, my boys have never had a pair of Jordans. You know, my boys don't do all that internet fly shit. I'm like, you're kids. And, no, I could be the biggest star in the world. do not let me catch you being stupid. Do not. And my oldest kids, and my 15 year old, he tell the other ones, he's like, yo, don't make dad mad.

Because once you get one that's right, he gonna straighten the other ones out. So it's just that thing of, in the past 20 years, we've been living through the death of the American male. They have literally killed masculinity in our homes and our communities, for one reason or another. But I raised my boys to be young men. And however you feel about that, you feel about that.

But my boys will always be respectful. They will always say, yes, sir, yes, ma'am. No, sir, no, ma'am. They will always say thank you. They will always open the door for a lady. They will always make sure that their mother is taken care and provided for. They will always be men. And that's always since they were two years old.

Every time I left for a job, I tell my 15 year old, you're the man of the house. You make sure these doors are locked every night. This alarm is on. You text me or you call me every night before you go to bed and you wake up. I love that. Because we're men. If I'm not there to protect, he got to be there to protect.

Because you can have all the money in the world, climb through the window, that money means nothing. You can have all the celebrity in the world, jump through the door, that celebrity means nothing.