Before becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Anthony Mackie took on a role that challenged him as an actor and person. In the 2003 independent film Brother to Brother, Mackie portrayed Perry Williams, a young Black artist navigating his identity as a gay man in Harlem.
The role was deeply personal for Mackie, who recently revealed that he chose to play Perry to better understand his own brother and confront his own biases.
During an interview on The Pivot podcast, Mackie opened up about how his upbringing in the South shaped his views on masculinity and how stepping into Perry’s shoes helped him break down barriers within himself.
“Growing up in the South in the 80s and 90s, you grow up homophobic, sexist, and racist,” Mackie admitted. “That’s just a fact.”
If you bothered to watch the whole interview, you’d hear Anthony explain how he stepped out of his comfort zone to play the role of a gay man early in his career to understand his gay brother better and not repeat the same homophobic attitudes he grew up with in the South. https://t.co/dRxlop17BL pic.twitter.com/nInl73MYTd
— THUNDERBOLT BADDIE⚡ (@SAMTH33STALLION) March 14, 2025
Despite being surrounded by LGBTQ+ culture, Mackie acknowledged that he struggled with understanding his brother’s identity. His experience in art school, where many of his friends were gay, further pushed him to reevaluate his own perspectives.
“My roommate was gay. But I didn’t know how to deal with that. Like, my brother is gay. I didn’t know how to deal with that,” Mackie shared. “So being a man, I used my art to better myself. I played Perry so that I could understand my brother better. So I could understand my friends better.”
Mackie also reflected on New Orleans’ LGBTQ+ culture. “You make good music, nobody cares. Big Freedia is famous. The idea of being gay in New Orleans has always not only been supported, but it’s been a part of the culture,” he shared.
“I needed to figure out what was my holdup, what was my insecurity about that. And once I played that role, I realized everybody deserves to be loved. It’s not my job to say who you love or who should love you. If you love someone, I’m happy for it.”
Mackie says playing the role of Perry Williams made him a better actor.
“It really put me in a position where I think it made me a better actor because I had to go so far out the box. I had to go to the furthest spectrum away from myself to play that role.”
