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As many continue to cry foul in the wake of Selma’s Oscars snub, which many believe was fueled by discrimination, actor Anthony Mackie has another theory and it has nothing to do with race.

“The reality of what the Academy is doing and how they’re voting, that doesn’t matter because if you make a good movie, they will reward you. It’s the beast of competition. If you look at all the movies and actors that are nominated, they all gave damn good performances,” Mackie told theGrio. “Me specifically, if that’s something I want, I have to step my game up. I have to do better movies and I have to act better.”

As for why Selma didn’t win big at the box office, the Black or White actor feels that people are simply over the race discussion right now.

“You have to think about the time in which ‘Selma’ came out, the racial trepidation in this country. That’s why it’s not doing so well at the box office. People are just tired of being bombarded with race right now,” Mackie said. “So everybody is shying away from certain topics and certain movies.”

When it comes to getting Black actors Oscars, Mackie says that it has nothing to do with the Academy, but everything to do with Hollywood’s inability to realize that there’s a market overseas for Black actors. He reasons that this is ultimately what keeps Blacks from obtaining Oscar-worthy roles.

“Hollywood believes that there’s no market overseas for black actors,” he expressed. “They say that about Denzel Washington, they say they have no foreign value.”

His suggested solution to this problem? Black people funding their own projects.

“If we’re not financing and doing our own stories, we can’t expect to see ourselves come award season.”

Check out Anthony’s full interview over at theGrio.

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