Anthony Mackie had his face in the dirt in Captain America film

LOS ANGELES • There is more to being a superhero than spandex and capes. There is also a lot of blood, sweat and dirt ingestion.

On the set of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Anthony Mackie, who plays Falcon, learnt that superhero training montages are just not as fun in real life.

The 41-year-old was tasked with perfecting a landing while piloting Falcon's signature mechanical wings. He decided to bust out the physical tips and acting training he got while studying at The Juilliard School. However, he found that theory and execution are different.

On the first day of filming, Mackie says: "I was supposed to land, so they pulled me up like 30 feet off the ground, and I was on a pendulum, so I was supposed to pull my legs under me and land to a stop.

"I didn't realise how much my lower body weighed, so I pulled on the ropes to try and bring my legs under, but I couldn't get my core in and I literally landed face first in the dirt and bounced for about 10 feet."

Mackie adds: "I had grass and mud all in my face. The crew was just dying laughing. Everybody was dying laughing."

The actor joined a panel of Juilliard alumni, including Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, to reflect on the lessons they learnt while studying under the performing arts conservatory's founding faculty member, Moni Yakim.

Yakim is the subject of a new documentary, Creating A Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy.

Mackie says his teacher's lessons were integral in shaping his approach to Falcon.

"The physicality of that directly stems from the work - the physical work, the clown work, mime work and body inhabitance - that we learnt in Moni's class," he says.