8-Mile: Eminem Used Anthony Mackie’s Real Background for Rap Battle
Anthony Mackie recently revealed that during Eminem’s infamous final freestyle in 2002’s 8 Mile, he used actual, real-life information about Mackie for it.
What did Anthony Mackie say about Eminem?
Speaking during a recent appearance on The Pivot podcast, Mackie revealed that, prior to the day where they filmed the final battle in the movie — which sees Eminem’s B-Rabbit mocking Mackie’s Clarence, a.k.a. Papa Doc, upbringing — he and Eminem spoke for about two hours, with the legendary rapper trying to come up with a reason why the character would be rivals.
Mackie then joked that, when he showed up to film the scene and heard Eminem rapping, he realized that he was using a lot of the information that Mackie told him.
“Eminem is just such a brillaint dude, we’re on set one day and he’s like ‘Yo, it doesn’t make sense that we’re beefing…I need something on you,'” said Mackie. “So we’re talking, we talk for like two hours…I go to the casino, the next day, we’re shooting the battle scene, and that’s why I’m standing there like ‘You’re talking to me, you ain’t talking about Clarence.’ This has nothing to do with the character. You’re an a–hole, Eminem!”
Despite the shock Mackie felt, the scene worked, and is still remembered 20+ years later for being one of the more infamous moments in a music drama. The scene also helped propel 8 Mile to massive success, with the film nominated for several awards, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” in the process.
Source: Comingsoon.net