If you have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we were introduced to a new character in the Cinematic Universe: Falcon. Saw Wilson is the everyday name of the character known as Falcon. I really enjoyed the Falcon in the film. I thought Anthony played the role great, and I look forward to seeing him in more things down the road.
Recently the charismatic and newly minted superhero talked to a group of parenting bloggers about the job, the suit, and what went terribly wrong when he tried to sign a bunch of posters at Michaels!
Read the interview right here!
Obvious question but how is it when you got the job?
It was definitely it’s hard to explain … like you’d try to find those moments where you can stop and have the frozen in the air pose “yay” jump. And this was one of those moments.
When I first started acting I was like, there are two things I want to do. I want to be a superhero. And I want to do a Western, preferably with Clint Eastwood. And then Morgan Freeman took my role in UNFORGIVEN.Bastard! When I got this call, I kinda put things in perspective. You know I feel like a lot of people are famous for different reasons. Some people are famous because they’re handsome. Some people are famous because they’re British. I’m very happy that I’m famous because I can act. And I feel like this is a job I got because I deserved it. So it was like one of those.
When you found out you got the role, that you worked with somebody like Hugh Jackman (in Real Steal), who’s been a Marvel. Did you like call up and and say “give me pointers?”
No. I did not want to mess up my experience. I completely wanted to come into this naïve, ignorant, and like my virginal eyes not knowing anything. So when I showed up — you know, it’s, it’s funny ’cause Sam has done like 15 Marvel movies. And Chris and Scarlett have done like six each. And you know, Sebastian has done three. So I was like, you know, don’t kill my vibe. Like I’m having a, a good time, we’re doing a Marvel movie, we get the best craft services. You know, we’re in California. You know we basically shut down the city of Cleveland. So everywhere we went, people were like (whispering). You know, so it’s like, wow, I know how Denzel feels. So I was soakin’ it up! Chris and I have a very good relationship. And literally got to the point where we would show up on set. And we were like 7-year-olds. I mean, we had that first day where it’s like, deal with 35-year-old men in costume.
We’re losers! And then the next day, you know, we started making fun of each other. Done it next week, done the next month. And then it just turned into this thing, where it became infectious. You know, it’s fun when you go to work knowing you’re gonna make a quality product. Because as actors there’s so many people with, you know, daddy issues that mess up movies. You know, it’s like, “oh, I’m gonna edit it this way,” or, “I didn’t have a girlfriend in high school so I’m gonna do this,” And it’s like, “Dude, just make a movie! ”
You know workin’ with Marvel is one of those studios where you go to work and you know everybody leaves their stuff at the door. And they just want to make a good project. So you know, once we got over our suits, we had a good time.
So, the costume. Was it fun to wear?
It was … no fun. The hardest working actors in Hollywood are flying superheroes. I said it, I don’t care what Thor says with his hammer. I don’t care what Wolverine – I don’t – if you fly, it sucks. And, you know, it’s just the simple stuff.
I loved my costume, I loved everything about it. I love doing stunts. I have the best stuntman in the business. We’ve done like five movies together. And literally it’s like that Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny cartoon, where like the missile is coming and Bugs Bunny’s like pauses, puts Daffy in. And he just takes the brunt of every hit for me. And I love it. My first day on set, like there’s nothing natural about flying, to humans. There’s nothing we do that’s like flying. So my first day on set I walk in, I’m like, “What’s up, yo. Falcon in the building, what’s up?”
And so I get up on like a 60-foot platform. And I’m like, all right, let’s do this. You know, brother in the building. And they said, “All right, stand on the edge of the platform, there’s a jet coming at you. We want you to stand up, turn around, shoot your guns and jump back backwards head first, into this mat.” From 60 feet in the air. And I’m like, “Ohhhhhhh! Whoa!” The first day is usually like walking down a hallway, or like eating or something. You know, just to break you in. Not jumping off the platform to your death.
So you know, once we did that, in a scolding heat of the day, I kinda knew what I was in for. And it just got worse from there. It was, it was really painful and exhausting. But Aaron Toney, my stuntman, literally fell out of a car at 40 miles an hour. He got messed up on this movie. So kudos to him.
What did you do to train and prepare for this film?
Salmon, chickens, tuna fish, asparagus, and a cup of brown rice at noon. Every day. For three months. I did high school football?
Fitness is a lifestyle, you have to eat a certain way. You have to do a certain thing, you have to live a certain way. So you know, me and my homeboy Jack Daniels stopped talkin’. No more pizza, like all the things I love.
Me and my girlfriend Haagen Dazs broke up. She’s French, it was crazy. I had to contain myself. And then I show up and you know, Chris looks like a Greek god. And I’m feeling good about myself, I’m like Spandex ready, you know. And I show up and he’s like, Captain, you know, tiny ass. And I’m like, “Dude, how’d you get your ass that small?”
How did you feel the first time that you dressed up the first time…
It was great the first time I put that costume on. I mean literally I couldn’t stop smiling, I was running around the room. It’s like I said, it’s one of those moments where you know, you just have to allow yourself to enjoy it. At a certain point in time you just have to … it’s like the first time I met Prince. Like I was like, he’s Pri – no no no. I’m cool. Uh, uhhhhhhhhh. You know, you just have to allow yourself to be in the moment and enjoy it.
My costume, it took 45 minutes to get in it. It was like five minutes to get out of it. But it was fun, I really took every moment to enjoy being a super hero. So yeah, it was, it was a good time.
I suppose there was lots of guy talk. What was it like to work with Scarlett Johansson?
It was fun. You know, Scarlett is just a regular chick. Like it’s weird, you expect her to be a diva or high maintenance or catty or needy. Or just … an actress. But she’s a regular chick and she’s really low maintenance and cool and fun to be around. And you know, she just goes with the flow. I guess that comes with being, you know, ’cause she’s extremely talented. So I feel like a lot of people compensate for not being talented with being bitchy. But she’s really talented. So she’s just like, “Scarlett Johansson, let’s make it happen.”
How do you feel about not being the first African-American superhero?
You know, it’s, it’s funny you should ask that. It’s cool. I feel like, when I was a kid, I really didn’t have that, you know, a person I could look at, other than my dad, and be like, “Hey, I want to be that guy and fly through the window.” You know, you couldn’t be like 7 years old and say, “Who do you want to be for Halloween?” ”Shaft,” you know.
So, it’s really exciting. It always makes me emotional. I mean, when I first got this role I just cried like a baby because I was like, “Wow, next Halloween, I’m gonna open the door and there’s gonna be a little kid dressed as the Falcon.” You know, and that’s the thing that always gets me. It’s always, so I feel like everybody deserves that. I feel like there should be a Latino super hero, there should be, you know, I feel like Scarlett does great representation for all the girls.
But there should be a Wonder Woman movie. I don’t care if they make 20 bucks, if there’s a movie you’re gonna lose money on, make it Wonder Woman. You know what I mean, ’cause little girls deserve that. There’s so many of these little people out here doing awful things for money, in the world of being famous. And little girls see that. They should have the opposite spectrum of that to look up to. You know what, I’m just trying to go with the flow with it. You know, like funny story. This is, there’s this craft store called Michaels. Look, my sister knits. So she goes to Michaels. And every now and then I’ll go there for something. My sister called me and she’s like, “Oh my god, I’m at Michaels, picking up yarn.” And … “You have a poster at Michaels.” I’m like, what? She’s like, “There’s a poster, there’s a Falcon poster at Michaels.” I’m like, “holy sh&t.” She’s like, “I’m gonna come and pick you up, and we’re gonna see your poster in this store.” So I’m like … all right. So she picks me up, we get in the car, we go to Michaels, we hurry up. We get to Michaels … We go in, and I see the poster and I’m like, “Oh, this is…” She’s like, “I know, I know.” I said, “I’m gonna sign these posters.” I was like, “That would be amazing, you buy a poster and it’s like, actually signed by the Falcon.” Like, it would blow my mind. So I go to the front, I buy a Sharpie, I run back to the back of the store. And she’s like, “I’m gonna take a picture of you signing it.” So I’m in this store and I’m signing all the posters. The manager comes out, he’s like, “Hey, whatcha doing?” I was like, “Oh man, I’m signing these posters so when people buy ‘em, they’re signed.” He’s like, “Well, people are not gonna buy ‘em if they’re signed.”
And I was like, “No no no, it’s cool, I’m pretty sure there won’t be a problem.” And he goes, “Yeah, but it is gonna be a problem, you’re messin’ up my inventory.” And I’m like, “No, my man, trust me, I mean, I’m the… that, that’s me!” And he goes, “Yeah, right. You’re gonna buy those posters.” I said, “What?” He’s like, “You’re gonna buy all those posters or I’m gonna call the police.” He’s like, “Let’s go to the front, you’re buying the posters.”
He rolls up all the posters and goes to the front of the store. And I had to buy like 60 Falcon posters that I signed in Michaels. I’m just enjoying it. Man, I mean, there’s so many bad things that happen to us at entertainers and actors, that I feel like, when something good happen, you should take full advantage of it.
Tell us which Michaels it was.
N— n— No, I’m gonna go back, I mean, I’m doing a screening in New Orleans and the first invitation I sent out was to the manager of Michaels. I’m like, “My sister getting free yarn. And you’re giving me my money back.”
As co-owner and co-creator of The Main Street Mouse.Working in a technical support position for 18 years, it was time for a change.As the Webmaster and Project Planner, I spend most of my time researching everything from the latest Disney News, technology advances and of course keeping up on all the Marvel news that comes out.I never considered myself a writer but I’ve come to like blogging and sharing news with all.I feel blessed everyday that I get to spend my days working with my best friend and love of my life while we continue to grow and expand what started as a hobby all those years ago.
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