ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER

ANTHONY MACKIE (Will) was classically trained at the Juilliard School of Drama. He was discovered after receiving rave reviews while playing Tupac Shakur in the Off Broadway "Up Against the Wind.” Mackie made an auspicious film debut as Eminem's nemesis, Papa Doc, in Curtis Hanson's "8 Mile.” His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who cast Mackie in "Sucker Free City” and "She Hate Me.” Mackie appeared in Clint Eastwood's Academy Award-winning "Million Dollar Baby,” opposite Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and Eastwood, as well as in Jonathan Demme's "The Manchurian Candidate,” alongside Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber, and the comedy "The Man,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Mackie earned Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Award® nominations for his performance in Rodney Evans' "Brother to Brother,” which won the 2004 Special Dramatic Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2005, he appeared opposite David Strathairn, Timothy Hutton and Leelee Sobieski in "Heavens Fall,” based on the historic Scottsboro Boys' trials, an independent feature that premiered at the 2006 SXSW Film Festival in Austin. Mackie had five features on movie screens in 2006. In addition to "We Are Marshall,” he starred in "Half Nelson,” with Ryan Gosling, adapted from director Ryan Fleck's Sundance-winning short "Gowanus, Brooklyn”; in Preston Whitmore's "Crossover”; in Frank E. Flowers ensemble crime drama "Haven,” opposite Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton; and in the film adaptation of Richard Price's "Freedomland,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Mackie was seen in several theatrical performances both on and off Broadway. He made his Broadway debut as the stuttering nephew, Sylvester, alongside Whoopi Goldberg in August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.” Next, Mackie was the lead in Regina King's modern retelling of Chekov's "The Seagull,” starred in Stephen Belber's "McReele” for the Roundabout Theatre Company, and starred in the Pulitzer Prize winning play "A Soldier's Play” as a character made famous by Denzel Washington 20 years prior. Most recently, Mackie was part of the production of "August Wilson's 20th Century” at the esteemed Kennedy Center, where the cast performed staged readings of all 10 plays in August Wilson's cycle. Mackie participated in three of the ten shows and hopes to return to the stage soon.

In 2009 Mackie was seen as Sgt. JT Sanborn in Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker,” a film that not only earned Anthony an Independent Spirit Award nomination but also earned Academy Awards for Best Picture, Directing, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), and three other nods. That same year saw Mackie re-visit the role of Tupac Shakur in Fox Searchlight's Notorious B.I.G. biopic "Notorious” and he also starred as Major William Bowman in the DreamWorks film "Eagle Eye.” In 2010 Mackie returned to Broadway starring in Martin McDonagh's latest creation "A Behanding In Spokane.” He reunited with Kerry Washington in the drama "Night Catches Us.” In 2011 Mackie was seen in Universal Pictures' "The Adjustment Bureau,” which also featured Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Next came the Disney/DreamWorks feature "Real Steel,” which also starred Hugh Jackman.

Earlier this year, Mackie starred in the feature "Man on a Ledge” with Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks. Mackie recently wrapped three films: "Ten Year,” in which he stars with Channing Tatum, Kate Mara, Rosario Dawson, and Justin Long; the crime drama "The Gangster Squad,” which also stars Sean Penn, Emma Stone, and Ryan Gosling; and the Michael Bay directed feature film "Pain and Gain,” also starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock” Johnson.

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