Actor Anthony Mackie disclosed on The Pivot Podcast that his personal experiences served as inspiration for Eminem’s legendary rap battle in the climax of 8 Mile.
“We’re on set one day, and he’s like, ‘Yo, it doesn’t make sense that we’re beefing,’” Mackie, 46, recalled. “I was like, ‘Right.’ He was like, ‘I need something on you.’”
Mackie, who portrayed Clarence “Papa Doc” in 8 Mile, revealed that he spent two hours discussing his upbringing in New Orleans and his private school experience with Eminem, as reported by the New York Post.
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“I was like, ‘Alright man, I’ll see you later.’ I go to the casino,” Mackie said. “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 he also thought to himself at the time, “You’re an a–hole, Eminem. I wanna fight this motherf—er. I’m like, yes, my parents are still married.”
8 Mile, the film debut for both Mackie and Eminem, chronicles Eminem’s rise as a Detroit rapper.
Directed by Curtis Hanson, the movie features stars like Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Michael Shannon, and Kim Basinger. Eminem’s track Lose Yourself won an Oscar.
Mackie previously revealed on The Rich Eisen Show in 2021 that Eminem drew from his life story for the film’s climactic rap battle.
“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,’” Mackie recalled.
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“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,” Mackie added. “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?’”
In a 2021 appearance on Hot Ones, Mackie revealed that studying Shakespeare helped him excel in the iconic rap battle scene in 8 Mile.
“I find myself very lucky to have studied Shakespeare,” the “Captain America: Brave New World” star said. “The idea of approaching a rapper from the perspective of an actor, you’re really just speaking in poems. I always said, one of the greatest rappers ever lived was Shakespeare.”
