Anthony Mackie Says DUI Conviction Made Him Leave NYC For Good: “It’s Not My Harlem Anymore” + Admits He Took A Year Off Acting Over Oscar Snub

Anthony Mackie

Anthony Mackie Says DUI Conviction Made Him Leave NYC For Good: “It’s Not My Harlem Anymore” + Admits He Took A Year Off Acting Over Oscar Snub

Anthony Mackie is sitting on top of the professional world at the moment as he is continuously riding high off of the success of his role as the Falcon in the box office juggernaut Avengers: Endgame.

However in new interview, the 40-year-old movie star recalled a minor setback he had hit back in 2013.

About six years ago in the fall, Mackie was stopped by the law enforcement officers after making a U-turn while driving in Harlem late at night. He was subsequently arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

Despite the ‘Hurt Locker’ actors’ attempt to fight the charge in court, he was ultimately convicted and forced to pay a fine and perform community service. It came as a surprise to him, as a video was shown at his trial of him “walking a yellow line without difficulty” a stark difference to the accusation made by the police that he appeared intoxicated.

He recalls the situation saying,

“It happened on 125th Street and Lenox—the epicenter of Harlem—with six white cops. I was like, Nah. This ain’t my city. It’s not my Harlem anymore. So I took the lesson: You’re not allowed to be a human being anymore. You’re not looked at or thought of as a citizen anymore.”

Anthony was born and raised in New Orleans and moved to New York City in 1997 to study acting at the Juilliard School.

Tupac Shakur (circa 1996)

During his time as the prestigious institution, he created the role of late rapper Tupac Shakur in the 2001 off-Broadway drama Up Against the Wind.

Nine years later, Anthony finally came to prominence in the industry with his breakthrough role starring alongside Jeremy Renner in the 2009 war drama The Hurt Locker.

In spite of his stellar acting performance in the movie which led to him taking being nominated and taking several awards, he was snubbed of an Oscar nomination.

It was because of that he decide to take a career hiatus for 12 months saying,

“That little f***er matters. 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.”

After the DUI incident, Mackie decided to leave New York City after 15+ years (where he had even opened up a bar) and came back to his hometown where he could

“feel at ease.”

But despite all the drama that happened in his personal life, Mackie is continuing to thrive in his movie career. According to his IMDB page, he has several movie productions in the works including a Falcon and Winter Soldier miniseries on Disney+.

What are your thoughts about his remarks? Let us know in the comments.