Anthony Mackie Says He’s a ‘White Dude Legend’ Since His Co-Stars Often Get Award Nominations Over Him: ‘I Made Ryan Gosling Famous. Jeremy Renner…’

Anthony Mackie appeared on “The Tonight Show” to promote “Twisted Metal” Season 2, but the interview started with host Jimmy Fallon congratulating Mackie on his recent Emmy nomination for guest actor in a comedy series thanks to his performance in Seth Rogen’s Apple TV+ series “The Studio.” Mackie was on a set the morning of the Emmys announcement and automatically assumed his white co-stars landed noms over him, per usual.

“I’m on set… and I look over and everybody’s like ‘Congratulations!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, what white dude got nominated?’” Mackie said. “Because I’m the white dude legend when it comes to nominations and wins. I made Ryan Gosling famous. I made Jeremy Renner famous. I made Bryan Cranston famous. I now made Ron Howard famous! I’m like, if you want to get nominated, I’m the dude. You know what I mean?”

Mackie was referring to his long history of being snubbed by awards voters while his white co-stars land nominations instead. Mackie was Ryan Gosling’s co-star in 2006’s “Half Nelson,” which earned Gosling an Oscar nomination for best actor. He starred alongside Jeremy Renner in 2008’s “The Hurt Locker,” which won best picture and earned Renner a best actor Oscar nom. Mackie played Martin Luther King Jr. to Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon B. Johnson in the HBO movie “All the Way,” for which Cranston was an Emmy nominee. And now Mackie appeared with Ron Howard in “The Studio.” Only this time it wasn’t just Howard who got an Emmy nomination but Mackie, too.

In various interviews over the years, Mackie has spoken publicly about his disappointment with awards bodies for overlooking his work. He told Esquire earlier this year on the “Captain America: Brave New World” publicity tour: “I know I’ve done at least four performances that could have been nominated — if not for a Golden Globe, then an Oscar or an Emmy. Captain America is my Oscar, because I’ve been overlooked so many times in my career.”

Speaking to Men’s Health in 2020, Mackie said he “put everything” into “The Hurt Locker” and had to stop acting for a bit when the Oscars snubbed him for supporting actor.

“That little fucker matters,” Mackie said at the time about the Oscar. “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.”

Mackie is one of four guest actors nominated for “The Studio.” The others are Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston and Dave Franco. The Apple TV+ series earned a huge 23 nominations this year, making it the most-nominated freshman comedy in history. It’s also now tied for most nominations for a single season of a comedy series.

Watch Mackie’s full appearance on “The Tonight Show” in the video below.