Anthony Mackie tackles an unforgiving post-apocalyptic world in director George Nolfi’s latest action-thriller, ‘Elevation.’ Set in the Rocky Mountains, Will (Mackie) and his son Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr.) are living in an outpost as a haven from some sort of species that invaded the planet years prior. For some reason, the beings can’t travel above 8,000 feet, so those who survive live high above that cut-off line as a way to stay safe.
Circumstances surrounding Hunter’s health prompts Will and two others from the outpost (Nina, played by Morena Baccarin and Katie, played by Maddie Hasson) to venture below the border to save his life. To chat more about his experience on set, his character’s journey and what stunts were the most fun (and challenging) to perform, Mackie sat down to discuss all things ‘Elevation.’
What made you want to sign on with this project?
George Nolfi. We started talking about this movie when we were shooting ‘The Banker’, and I was given the opportunity to produce it with him. So I went through the whole process with him, talking through the characters, [and] I was able to coerce Morena (Baccarin) into doing the movie. I love Nolfi, I love working with him. He’s my brother and I trust him. I feel like every actor is Leonardo looking for their Scorsese and he’s my Scorsese. So whenever he comes to me with something, I don’t care if it’s one line, I want to do it just because I enjoy working with him.
This is your third time working with Nolfi?
Yes, we did ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ first and then ‘The Banker’ and now ‘Elevation.’
Having that much trust in him, what does that bring to your experience on set?
Well, a director has to realize that the greatest trust on set is his relationship with the actor. I can give you four months of my best work, and then you go away for a year with a bunch of people in an editing room and you put together what you think is my best performance. And next thing you know that’s the worst movie ever made. But I know somewhere in there I gave you a good performance.
So he’s one of those people that I’m able to trust. I know he’s going to dig out the best performance with editing and with takes and really with actual directing on set. If you’re an actor and you have the ability to trust your director, it really puts you in a position of comfort where you can do your best work.
In ‘Elevation,’ there’s a lot of action through different landscapes of Colorado. And I saw for the most part everything was real, from scenes in mineshafts to stunts on chairlifts. What were some of the more fun moments for you filming this and more of the challenging ones?
I love what I do in every way. So the chairlift scene, it was hard work the way Nolfi wanted to do it. And the reason why it’s so special is because it was hard. No one’s ever shot a chairlift, you don’t see those in movies. It was so much fun doing the practical aspect of it outside and then going onto the stage and being put in a chair and dropped 20 feet with Maddie (Hasson) almost hitting the ground.
Every day was an adventure going to work. And I feel like we had the perfect backdrop, Colorado is really a hidden gem and it’s so beautiful. It was exciting to be able to stand on set and look across on the next mountain and see a herd of moose going by—that’s something we don’t have in New Orleans. It was different and it was breathtaking to be able to see that type of countryside.
What can you tell me about your character and what you hope people take away from his journey on screen?
Well, [for me,] it’s the idea of being a dad, right? George is a dad, I’m a dad and we both love our kids, we pour so much into our kids. It’s the fear and the idea of that being taken away from you for something that’s out of your control. I always think about the idea of being a regular dad where my day-to-day goal is not to keep my kids alive —my day-to-day goal is to make sure my kids grow up to be responsible adults. You know, what to do, what not to do, go get dad something to eat, that type of thing. But if you’re in the apocalypse, your day-to-day job is to just solely keep your kid alive.
Will’s head and his emotional and mental [anguish] was a huge strain and a huge burden. So putting yourself in that every day knowing you’re doing this for one reason, and that’s to keep your kid alive….It puts a certain weight on that character. And that’s something we talked about daily. George and I, we’re goofballs, so we’ll FaceTime our kids from set. We’re just really big on being boy dads, and that’s where we bonded and where we built the character of Will from.
‘Elevation‘ releases in theaters Nov. 8.
