Despite the various criticisms that people will always lob at Tom Cruise, the actor has long been known as a textbook "movie star" for his combination of handsomeness, charm and a killer smile. Not everyone in Hollywood is privy to having that "it" factor, but it's safe to say The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Anthony Mackie fits the bill to a T. It's almost dangerous to think about them being in the same room together, as it might explode from the sheer charisma, amirite?
CinemaBlend recently had the pleasure of talking to actor Danny Ramirez, who portrays both Marvel Comics' Joaquin Torres in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and a pilot-in-training for the long-awaited action sequel Top Gun: Maverick. As such, Ramirez has had the somewhat rare opportunity of spending quality time with both Anthony Mackie and Tom Cruise in the past year or two. So Ramirez seemed like the perfect person to ask which of the two actors oozed more charisma, and as you can see in the video above, here's how he answered:
That's a good question, man. I think they both have similar qualities in their storytelling. One of the loveliest things I've seen is both of them lead a group of people through a story, and in how they tell it, they take you on this journey. Even if it's, like, Tom talking to ten people on set or Anthony talking to 10 people on set about this interaction he had over a cigar. And I think they both share that charisma that they are able to just take you on this little five-minute journey or three-minute journey at random points in the day. So I'd say they both have a very similar quality in their charisma.
If I can be perfectly frank, I joked with Danny Ramirez that, like Anthony Mackie, I'm a Louisiana native, and also that I hold grudges. But like a true professional, the actor laughed and didn't truly let it affect his answer. (Or so I believe, anyway.)
For Danny Ramirez, both Tom Cruise and Anthony Mackie share the same specific quality that marks the difference between just "someone telling a story" and "a bona fide storyteller." They're presumably both able to light up a room and command attention with ease, regardless of whether they have an epic tale or a goofy anecdote, and then continue going about their day. It's not hard to believe, either, considering Cruise has shared some truly ridiculous stories culled from his long acting career, while Mackie isn't exactly a stranger to unpredictable experiences in his own life, such as the bizarre circumstances in which he found out Captain America 4 was a thing.
Even when they're playing characters who aren't automatically likable, both Tom Cruise and Anthony Mackie bring an inherent likability to each and every one of their roles, and they've both only gotten better at it with time. Even if fans don't love every single movie Cruise does, he's rarely viewed as the root of the problem. Similarly, while not all MCU fans were fully on board with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and its somewhat polarizing finale, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone noting Anthony Mackie or his character Sam Wilson on the "Cons" side. He's just too damned cool and authentic for that.
Fans will now be waiting until November 19, 2021 to watch Top Gun: Maverick, which was previously set to debut in July. However, along with being super-charismatic, Tom Cruise is also the kind of powerful Hollywood star that has the cache and the power to dictate a film's delay. In his case, Cruise fought for Paramount to postpone Maverick's release until he could safety head out on a world tour to promote the Top Gun sequel, and the studio did just that.
Don't worry about such a long wait to see Anthony Mackie again, because he'll be popping up in Netflix's feature The Woman in the Window with Amy Adams, which will debut on Friday, May 14. Soon after, Mackie will appear in Amazon's fantastical sci-fi series Solos, which will premiere on Friday, May 21.
Beyond all that, though, one of the biggest questions that MCU fans now have is: what happens next for Danny Ramirez's Joaquin Torres? The actor is as hopeful as we are that his character will follow in the comic book counterpart's footsteps in becoming the next Falcon, but it's 100% unclear if and when we might actually hear a follow-up on that front. Write a letter to your local MCU Representative and tell them we need another Falcon in our lives, stat.
