Anthony Mackie reveals a never-told before story about ‘8 Mile’ by Eminem.
Anthony Mackie recalls a never-before-told narrative about the ultimate battle between B-Rabbit (Eminem) and Papa Doc of the movie “8 Mile” on the Rich Eisen Show. Actor Anthony Mackie, who’s known for his character in the Marvel Studios movies, has worked with the Detroit Rapper Eminem on his movie ‘8 Mile‘ in 2002, reveals a new never-told before behind-the-scenes story from the set in a new interview on The Rich Eisen Show.
In 2002, the man who had assumed the character of Captain America in one of the most historically successful theatrical picture franchises met his most formidable foe — in his very first film. Anthony Mackie’s first acting role was Papa Doc, the person who was meant to be the top-dog of Free World and dethrone Eminem as the supreme freestyle rapper.
Anthony Mackie plays Papa Doc, a renowned and respected combat rapper who opposes Eminem in the film. Mackie portrayed the leader of a group of rookie rappers known as “Free World,” who are Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith’s local enemies. Papa Doc torments B-crew, Rabbit’s even threatening them with violence and weapons, but in the end, B-Rabbit defeats Papa Doc and his gang by exposing all of the latter’s secrets; his real name is Clarence, and he lived a privileged life, and the fact that he raps about being a gangster merely proves that he is a want tobe.
Papa Doc loses a battle rap to Eminem in a dramatic way in one of the closing scenes of 8 Mile; Eminem reveals unpleasant details about Papa Doc, rendering him dumbfounded and unable to continue the battle. To everyone’s surprise, Eminem emerges as the new champion.
Anthony Mackie says, “There was this one day, we were sitting on the set and Eminem comes over and he’s like ‘what’s up man, I was reading a script and there is no reason for me not to like you, you are cool dude, I like you’ and then I said ‘I like you too.’ And then he was like ‘Cool, So you don’t mind if I add some stuff in the script about you? I was like ‘About me or the character?’. He’s like ‘no, no just some character stuff’. I’m like yeah no problem. So before the entire 8 Mile final battle, he googles me and learns about me and all that stuff he basically makes fun of me as Papa Doc. [Laughs] And then I’m like ‘That’s a little personal Mr. Marshall… I grew up in a nice house, my parents were nice to me, why are you making fun of me [Everyone laughs]. He literally walked over and said this gonna be dope.”
When it came time to film the final rap fight, Mackie understood Eminem meant to disgrace him on stage by using true material from his life. “So he goes, and his entire battle, the final rap, he Googles me and learns about me and all this stuff,” Mackie said. “And he basically makes fun of me, as Papa Doc. And I’m like, ‘That’s a little too personal there, Mr. Marshall.’”
Mackie was adamant about defending himself, and he asked director Curtis Hanson whether he may do so. Unfortunately, Hanson had no desire to expand the script’s fights. “So I go to Curtis, and I’m like, ‘Yo Curtis, what would be good is if he do his rap, and then I do a rap and it’s a tie. And then he does another rap and I don’t say nothing. … But I gotta say something.’ He’s like, ‘No, no I think it’ll work better … if you don’t say anything.’ ‘So I don’t get to say nothing. … I just stand there?’ He’s like, ‘Yep.’”
Then one of the hosts also reveals a story about the late Brittany Murphy who also worked on ‘8 Mile’ starring Eminem. “I was friends with the late Brittany Murphy,” he says. “We hung out for a few years and one time she told me a story that she had no idea how to throw up a middle finger cause she never flipped anyone off in her entire life until she did 8 Mile with Marshall. Eminem had to sit her down and teach her how to do it. And if you watch the movie, he has a weird way of flipping people off. And if you look, she does the exact same way he does.”
Mike WiLL Made-It Says Eminem Needs To Do The Part 2 Of “8 Mile” Movie
Also, Mackie Said that he studied Shakespeare to prepare for the role. “You know what’s interesting? I find myself very lucky to have studied Shakespeare. When you look at Shakespeare, the way he wrote, he wrote in verse. So the idea of approaching a rapper from the perspective of an actor, you are really just speaking in poems. I always said, one of the greatest rappers that ever lived was William Shakespeare. So It helped a lot as far as being able to understand the cadence, the verse, the meter and putting those words in rhyming couplets and into form.”
“When I remember ‘8 Mile,’ I recall very specifically music being everywhere,” the late Brittany Murphy told MTV. “Marshall [Mathers] was recording Encore and everything for ‘8 Mile’ at the time. I remember when the whole cast was brought in to hear ‘Lose Yourself’ and watching Mekhi [Phifer] hear it for the first time. That was really fun. There was music being created everywhere, and it was such a large part of the film as well.”
“Marshall is … he really … he’s one of the most funny, honest, professional, hard-working actors I’ve ever worked with, if not the most,” Murphy added. “Such a hard worker, he blows my mind.”
8 Mile was distributed under the guise of “The Mars Project” and filmed under the guise of “Untitled Detroit Project.” The picture was released to cinemas under the moniker “The Mars Project” to cloak the project in mystery before release, which may explain why 8 Mile gathered such a devoted fan following so soon.
In addition, the title for the film was not selected until the project was virtually done, with the project working under the moniker “Untitled Detroit Project.”
Is 8 Mile based on Eminem’s real-life or Is 8 Mile rap battle scripted were the main questions that spurred among the fans? This interview of Anthony Mackie must have cleared some air among the fans.
The climactic element of this film is this last rap battle. Papa Doc wins the coin toss and chooses “to first let that bi*ch.” Conscious of Doc’s many potential materials, Rabbit uses the “stealing thunder” approach, which entails the disclosure of unfavorable facts/information about you or a situation before it is discussed by the opponent or by other persons. For example, if the defendant admires FIRST’s unfavorable evidence before the prosecution has an opportunity to do so, the likelihood of the defendant being seen negatively decreases considerably.
8 Mile is a film that is vastly underappreciated. As an actor, Eminem vastly exceeded everyone’s expectations, and the rest of the ensemble is full of talented individuals who deliver above-average performances. The music is fantastic, with “Lose Yourself” winning both a Grammy and an Oscar. The story is unique, authentic, and engrossing.
Eminem became the first hip hop artist to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his single “Lose Yourself” from the soundtrack of 8 Mile at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. Although he was unable to attend the ceremony, co-writer Luis Resto collected the medal on his behalf. The film was nominated for 32 awards and won 11 of them. Eminem sang the song in a surprise cameo at the 2020 Academy Awards, 17 years later.
Salma Hayek spilled water on Eminem at the Oscars. Click here to read the whole story.
In the 2009 film Notorious, Mackie portrayed legendary ’90s rapper Tupac Shakur. He also played Martin Luther King Jr. in the HBO film All the Way, released in 2016. When Evans asks Mackie to quote a soliloquy or an aside that can depict burning his face off for the purpose of the hot wings interview, he puts his Shakespearean skills to the test.
“Thou, nature, art my goddess. To thy law. My services are bound. Wherefore should I. Stand in the plague of custom…I can’t,” Mackie says, laughing off the fact that he was getting choked up by the hot sauce before he could finish citing Shakespeare’s King Lear.
Another interesting fact about Eminem 8 Mile was Proof, Eminem’s real-life battle rap friend, which was the basis for the role of Future. The rapper was given the role of Future in the film, but he did not show up for the screening. Hanson then opted to cast a genuine actor in Mekhi Phifer. Proof would have a minor part as Lil’ Tic.
In an interview, 50 Cent revealed that he’s trying to bring 8 Mile to TV. “I’m gonna bring his 8 Mile to television,” he said. “We’re in motion. “It’s gonna be big. I ain’t got no duds. I’m battin’ a hundred, I’m battin’ a hundred.”
“Who’s idea is that? Did you have to convince Em? Because 8 Mile is a classic,” Big Boy asked. “No, I think it should be there for his legacy, because if you don’t see… it’s important to me that they understand it, you know what I mean?”
While Fifty teased the 8 Mile show, the film’s cast member Mekhi Phifer recently denied the possibility of a sequel. “Sometimes it’s best to just leave it at one,” he said in the interview with TMZ. “Sometimes it’s just best to leave it alone. Once you make a classic, no reason to fool around with it.” “Nope. Probably not. Never,” he said in response to if there was ever a conversation about part 2. “I think, you know, leave the classics alone and it’ll be all good. Let’s just live with the 8 Mile.”
“I’m developing the 8 Mile film into a series,” 50 said in an interview with Men’s Health. “So this sh-t is expected to be just as big as the feature film, just huge. It’ll be huge. The interest in it is because the time period of 8 Mile was capturing per the bat, so as we move it into modern times you’ll see things about how we function now, how technology changed the way people enter the music business.”
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, 50 Cent speculated why Eminem doesn’t do movies anymore. “I think he had a terrible experience on the “8 Mile” project ‘cause he just didn’t want to go back again, ever again,” said Fifty. “There were periods Hollywood would offer me things to get him. His agent would go, ‘Yeah, this is good. Give it to Fifty, let Fifty take it to Em.’ So it was like projects they offered him $8 million to do it. He’ll look at it and go, Yeah, yeah, I read it. I just think we should do like ‘Warriors’.’ Like the old movie ‘Warriors’, from the 70s, Then I am like, ‘Did you just miss the‘$8 million part?’ Im looking like, It doesn’t move him at all. He’s like, ‘Let’s go record records man.’”
