Eminem Once Told 50 Cent That Shooting ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Film Would be Terrible
Similar to Eminem, rapper 50 Cent once starred in a movie that was loosely based on his life. But shooting his debut film was an experience Eminem told 50 Cent that he wouldn’t enjoy.
50 Cent considered doing a ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ movie after his debut album
The 2005 feature Get Rich or Die Tryin’ was a film loosely based on 50 Cent’s life prior to his success. It was directed by filmmaker Jim Sheridan and written by Terrence Winter.
Despite 50 Cent’s interest in doing a film, he had to wait for a sign that a potential movie would be profitable. The sign came after his debut album, which was titled the same name of the movie, sold incredibly well.
“Actually, after the first week of sales of Get Rich or Die Tryin’, we started talking about the film. The first week sales came in and we had the projections for the next week and they said, ‘It’s gonna be big enough,'” 50 Cent once told IGN. “I talked to them about it and found the right writers, Terry Winter came out on the tour with me during ‘Rock the Mic.’ It was me, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot, Sean Paul, Fabulous, Lil’ Mo… We went out on the road and he stayed with me for two and a half months and he compiled the information.”
Eminem told 50 Cent he’d have a terrible experience doing ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Eminem had already translated parts of his life for the big screen for his 2002 hit feature 8 Mile. Given that his protégé 50 Cent was going down a similar path, Eminem offered the MC some advice. But it wasn’t the type of advice that 50 Cent found helpful.
“Em was no help for me on this film. He started out, teasing at me [saying], ‘Yo, I don’t know why you let them talk you into that,'” 50 Cent recalled Eminem telling him. “It’s gonna be terrible. They’re going to have you up there 20 hours. You’ll be doing this, you’ll be doing that. How’d you let them tell you that?'”
But later on 50 Cent discovered that Eminem was just trying to playfully get under his skin.
“I’m like, ‘They told me you said you wanted me to do it. Then he gives me a whole other story, ‘You know I didn’t say nothing like that… Ah man, you let them sucker you.’ Then when I get there, I got there the first week and he called me. He’s like, ‘You like it?’ I said, ‘Nah, this is cool.’ He said, ‘I knew it was cool. I was just trying to make you nervous,'” 50 Cent remembered.
50 Cent took a pay cut to star in ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Doing the film was so important to 50 Cent that the multi-millionaire was willing to take a pay cut. At the time, 50 would’ve made more money going on tour than he’d make for shooting the film. Still, he chose the latter because of what it could do for his fanbase.
“I did it because I felt like it was an opportunity to draw everyone close to me,” 50 Cent once told The Harvard Crimson.
In an interview with MovieWeb, he went into more detail on how the film would grow the bond between himself and his fans.
“The more they know about my past, the more they’ll be able to predict and understand some of the moves I make in the future. For me, the title I came up with for the movie that wasn’t used was A Hustler’s Ambition. It turned out to be the theme for the first song I released to set the mood of the overall film. If they watch it, they’ll see some of the work ethics I’ve had. It just wouldn’t be seen in a productive way,” he said.
