Actor Anthony Mackie can't help but become an accidental meme, and after years of people joking about his iconic smirk, people are now sharing a GIF of him dancing.

A viral clip of the Captain America / Falcon actor shimmying with his hands on his head has been making the rounds in 2025, usually paired with the phrase, "Different folks for different folks," or some wildly specific caption about pop culture, seasonal depression or award show reactions.

But while the meme might feel brand new to TikTok users, the clip itself dates back to almost a decade ago when Mackie was on a press junket for the MCU film Captain America: Civil War back in 2016.

Here's the origin of the "Anthony Mackie Dancing" meme and how it spread online.

Where did the GIF of Anthony Mackie dancing come from?

The now-iconic GIF of Anthony Mackie dancing originated from a 2016 press junket interview promoting Captain America: Civil War. The clip comes from a Spanish-language segment with NBC Deportes, published on YouTube by Telemundo Deportes on May 6th, 2016, titled "Anthony Mackie y Sebastian Stan: los momentos de diversión | Titulares y Más | NBC Deportes."

During the interview, the host joked that owning a bar was a better superpower than flying, a nod to Mackie's real-life bar venture in New York.

Mackie enthusiastically agreed, responding, "I agree, because your friends show up and they go 'Ayyy!'" He then proceeded to do a little jig, ending by placing both hands on his head and shimmying in his seat.

How Did People Use the Meme of Anthony Mackie Dancing?

The dance first caught on in 2016 when Tumblr user @p1xer posted a set of GIFs from the NBC Deportes interview on May 9th, gaining over 700 notes in the years that followed.

But the meme didn’t go viral until years later when it began resurfacing on X (formerly Twitter) in early 2023.

On February 24th, 2023, X user @hausofdai posted the image with the caption: "Daylight savings is in 2 weeks, my seasonal depressed girlies WAKE UP," racking up over 53,000 likes.

A month later, on March 23rd, X user @Anania00 shared it again with the caption, "no like why was he ever in this position 😭😭😭😭 what the f was the question," earning 43,000+ likes.

How Did Anthony Mackie Dancing Memes Spread To TikTok?

By mid-2025, TikTok had adopted the GIF as a full-on trend. TikToker @martinluthervandrossjr stitched Mackie’s NBC Deportes dance with a clip of him walking through a tunnel, soundtracked by "Different Folks for Different Folks."
The video hit 1 million views and 200,000 likes in one week.

On June 1st, 2025, TikToker @evuljenius posted their own imitation of Mackie’s moves, scoring over 250,000 plays and 70,000 likes in four days.

@martinluthervandrossjr Cause I keep seeing this picture too with this song lmao #anthonymackie #cher #future #everydaypeople #dance #scoobydoo #differentstrokesfordifferentfolks #captainamerica #marvel #sebastianstan ♬ original sound – _magickdyke

@evuljenius 99.99999% accuracy #anthonymackie ♬ original sound – _magickdyke

What Are Some More Anthony Mackie Dancing Memes?

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For the full history of the Anthony Mackie Dancing meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.