Is there a better way to start your day than with an Anthony Mackie post? I think not. 😉 In an exclusive interview with our brothers from another mother at The Playlist, Mackie expressed his desire to portray legenday Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens (9/12/1913 – 3/31/1980) in a screen biopic he’s developing.

Here’s what he has to say about the project, which is still in the early stages of development:

I feel like Jesse Owens kind of saved the world, If the Olympics had gone the way Hitler expected them to, his idea of being the ultimate race kind of would have been true. Jesse Owens went there and won four gold medals and flattens the idea of there being an ultimate race. Next thing you know, we go to war and flatten everything. And I feel like, for us not to recognize that, is preposterous and asinine. If you can make a movie about a dolphin or a horse for winning a race, you can make a movie about a man that changed the scope of the world.

If Ryan Gosling is believed to be able to gain 30 pounds to play a role, I can definitely lose 10, we have writers we’re looking at and working with. The problem is, you have a lot of directors who can do action, you’ve got a lot of directors who can do storytelling. You don’t have many directors who can do both. Those directors are so few and far between that you don’t want to make this movie with the wrong director. In film, if you have a bad movie you have a bad movie forever. So, it’s at the point now where it’s trying to get on that slate of trying to find that guy or lady or person who can just make that story the way it deserves to be made.

I can see Mackie bringing Jesse Owens to life, he definitely posesses an uncanny resemblance to the late olympian. I’m sure 10 pounds will not be a big deal to lose, although, I’m certain he’ll have to go through some rigorous training regardless.

I hope this project gets the support it needs to bring it to fruition. We will definitely stay on the lookout for any updates regarding this development.

The handsome, underrated and busy actor, currently shooting The Gangster Squad opposite Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and Emma Stone among others, can be seen this Friday, September 30th in the comedy What’s Your Number?, and next week on October 7th in the boxing robot action Hugh Jackman starrer Real Steel. He’s also set to appear in the upcoming high school reunion ensemble flick Ten Year, which screened at TIFF this month.