Exclusive: Anthony Mackie talks bringing Twisted Metal to TV and bringing Hollywood hype to his hometown.
This article appears in the new issue ofDEN OF GEEKmagazine.
There was freedom of expression back then.
Its when a generation really found its voice.
The great thing about John is that we had one hundred percent artistic freedom.
Hes a very serious character at times, but theres an absurdity to the world he lives in.
But theres more humanity in Johns story than one might expect.
Ostensibly, hes a happy-go-lucky lone wolf who thoroughly enjoys his job and its spoils.
it’s possible for you to relate to all of the characters on the show.
Theres not a good guy or a bad guy.
When youre in a situation of survival, everyone has a different vantage point they look at survival from.
None of them are right or wrong.
Each character has an argument that makes sense and that the audience can relate to.
Hes a wrestler in real life, so he doesnt know his strength!
Mackie says with a smile.
Whenever he hit me or threw me or punched me… he literally beat the shit out of me!
When he slammed my head against a damn video poker machine, the glass cracked.
I was like, Why?!
Why would you do that that hard?!
[laughs] I have a newfound respect for pro wrestlers.
Hes a 6 foot 3 clown who worships Sisqo.
What he was doing on the show was basically commedia dellarte.
He created this character with his body.
Samoa Joe is so fuckin talented.
It was really easy to play off of her, Mackie says of his chemistry with Beatriz.
We had a lot of fun, and I think that shows throughout the course of the series.
Lets just say Stephanie Beatriz is not the driver of drivers.
We had amazing stunt drivers and a really great stunt crew, Mackie continues.
When you look at these sequences…theyre second to none.
Doing as many practical stunts as we could was an important part of the show.
It was just fun.
I want people to learn how hard people work in New Orleans.
I really appreciate the crew, and I wanted to give them a good performance.
It reminded me of why I act and how great my job is.
It was really an enjoyable experience to have a production this big in a city so small.
Twisted Metalpremieres on Peacock on July 27.
