Raquel Laguna/ SUCOPRESS. Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez talk in this interview about working together in “Captain America: Brave New World” and about their characters in the film. Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Brave New World” follows Sam Wilson, who after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red. “Captain America: Brave New World” stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers
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00:00Anthony, how does it feel coming back as Sam Wilson and what have you learned from your character?
00:08I couldn't be more excited to, you know, play Sam Wilson again. It's funny,
00:13you know, over the course of 10 years most actors don't get the opportunity to play the same
00:18character and watch that character evolve film to film to where Sam has grown to as Captain America
00:26and it's just, it's really an honor. It becomes like a something I look forward to and a staple
00:32in my resume every time I get to go back to a Marvel movie and bring Sam Wilson back.
00:39And, you know, I've learned a lot from Sam but the biggest thing is empathy, you know,
00:46it's talking less and listening more and really being open-minded and open-hearted
00:53to another person's trials and struggles and, you know, being selfless. Like if you look at
00:59Sam Wilson, he's truly a selfless, loving, caring humanitarian and that's something that
01:07I didn't really recognize in myself until I started playing this character.
01:13Anthony, how would you describe Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres' relationship?
01:19Well, it all started, it all started a mission long ago. We're a young and eager,
01:29happy-go-lucky, wanting to prove himself. A guy named Joaquin met his hero Sam Wilson
01:36doing a badass mission and, no, I think the relationship has gone from mentor-mentee
01:44and built through, one, earning it and proving that Joaquin had his heart in the right place
01:50and is trying to be a hero and a human being in the right way where I think I saw this in,
01:57one, Anthony but also in Sam Wilson seeing Joaquin and me that we love what we do and
02:07in having a kindred spirit that like sees the world and what it could be for the positive ways,
02:12I think the relationship has developed into something deeper. It's been,
02:16feels more like a brotherhood now. Even when we're here on press, I think those characters,
02:20not only do they, it goes in and out of the movie where we're cracking jokes left and right and I
02:26think we've grown closer to each other because we have a respect for the same things and we cherish
02:34and uphold them in the same way that I think Joaquin and Sam do. And so that relationship,
02:40I think, is one of brotherhood and, but that dynamic of mentor-mentee stays there
02:45because there's still so much I can learn from Sam and Anthony.
02:51Anthony, how was working with Harrison Ford?
02:55Harrison was great. I mean, every day he came to set, there was a bond and an understanding.
03:03There was a playfulness that was really beautiful to see, especially with somebody at his
03:09stature in the industry. I've never had an experience like that with a star of his caliber
03:15really coming in and joining into the ensemble and being a part of the group. And he was really
03:21the glue of the morale for the cast. Every time something would waver, every time somebody would
03:26get tired or every time something wouldn't go right, Harrison was the one who pulled the group
03:30back together. So he was the best co-star we could have asked for.
03:36Pete, how did you prepare for the physical and emotional aspects of your character?
03:44Well, the physical was kind of straightforward in regards to,
03:48I was like, here I have a company that's willing to pay for my training and my diet. And so I was
03:55like, let's live the dream of living the athlete's lifestyle. And so through the three months of prep,
04:01it was two-a-days, it was meals without salt. It was a really rigorous plan that I enjoyed because
04:09I was like, oh, this is what it would be like if I was in the league. And so that was the physical
04:13element. The emotional was, I think, it was tied to, at the current times, I was processing what
04:22responsibility was like. And it just so happens that this film itself, it deals with that
04:27thematically outright in the way that it allowed me to really sit and understand, one, this process
04:35of maturing into a young man that has more responsibility and wants it. I think it's a
04:42transition from being a boy to a man. There's a process where you skirt by responsibility,
04:48and you move through all that in a way that if no one holds you accountable, you can stay there.
04:53And so having done other roles where this is a place to sit and meditate, this one,
04:59quite literally, thematically, there's a place to really process that. And watching
05:06all these mantles being passed, right? So watching Sam turn into Captain America and Joaquin being
05:11given the wings, this motif is physicalized. And that approach to responsibility was something
05:18that I just got to work through emotionally and see why I loved it and why I don't. And
05:25yeah, the preparation was just sitting there and thinking about previous generations of my
05:31family and other people I knew and how they dealt with it, and ideally how I'd like to deal with it.