Mackie made his film debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film 8 Mile (2002).
He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his performance in the LGBT drama Brother to Brother (2004),
He portrayed Tupac Shakur in Notorious (2009), and later starred in Night Catches Us (2010), and The Adjustment Bureau and Real Steel (both 2011).
In November 2013, Mackie was arrested for driving while intoxicated after he was initially stopped by police for having tinted windows, which is illegal in New York
Anthony Dwane Mackie, the son of Martha (née Gordon) and Willie Mackie Sr., a carpenter who owned a roofing business
In 2014, Mackie married his long-time girlfriend and childhood sweetheart Sheletta Chapital. They divorced in 2018. The couple has four children together.