Eminem was actually dissing Anthony Mackie, not his character, during 8 Mile‘s climactic rap battle, according to the actor.
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The Avengers star, who played Papa Doc, recently revealed on the Pivot podcast that Eminem pulled inspiration from an off-screen conversation to craft his brutal bars.
“We’re on set one day, and he’s like, it doesn’t make sense that we’re beefing,” said Mackie. “He says, ‘I need something on you.’
Mackie said that he and Eminem “talked for two hours” about his life growing up in New Orleans. Unbeknownst to him, Eminem took that information and turned it into fuel for B-Rabbit’s final showdown.
“The next day, we’re shooting the battle scene, and that’s why I’m standing there like, ‘You’re talking about me. You’re not talking about Clarence. This has nothing to do with the character,’” Mackie said while cackling about his thoughts at the time. “You’re an a–hole, Eminem. I wanna fight this motherf—er.”
In an interview with Esquire, he recalled suggesting a more competitive structure for the climactic battle.
Remembering a conversation with director Curtis Hanson, Mackie said: “I said, ‘For the final scene, it should be a back and forth.’ He goes, ‘Okay.’ I said, ‘So I should go first, he should go second. Then it’s a tie, then we have to have a battle off, then he goes, [and] then I choke.’”
Hanson entertained the idea but ultimately dismissed it after hearing Mackie’s freestyle, telling him it was “too good.”
“8 Mile” marked both Mackie and Eminem’s film debuts. The film also stars Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Michael Shannon and Kim Basinger. Eminem’s song in the film, “Lose Yourself,” won an Oscar.
