‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Star Anthony Mackie Reveals Eminem Used Real-Life Information About Him For Final ‘8 Mile’ Battle
Anthony Mackie is well known by Marvel fans for his work in the Avengers and Captain America franchises, but he’s actually been in the movie business since the early 2000s. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star got his first big break after he starred in 8 Mile a drama loosely based on the life of Hip-Hop legend Eminem.
In the film, he plays Papa Doc, a powerful and respected battle rapper who’s at odds with Eminem. In one of the final scene of 8 Mile, Papa Doc loses a battle rap to Eminem in dramatic fashion; Eminem exposes embarrassing secrets about Papa Doc that leave him speechless and unable to continue the battle. Eminem walks away as the new champion, to everyone’s surprise.
Years later, Mackie admitted that Eminem researched real-life information about him in order to craft his clever rhymes for the final battle.
Eminem asked Anthony Mackie if he could add information about him to the ‘8 Mile’ script
Mackie spoke about the experience during a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show
“There was this one day we’re sitting on set, and Eminem comes over, he’s like, ‘Yo, what’s up man?’” Mackie said. “I’m like, ‘Hey, what up Em?’ So he’s like, ‘Cool, cool. So, I’m reading the script, and I was kind of thinking, there’s no reason for me not to like you, like you’re a cool dude. Like, I like you.’”
After buttering Mackie up, Eminem asked Mackie if he could add some new lines to the script about him.
“And I was like, ‘I like you too,’” Mackie said. “He was like, ‘Cool, so you don’t mind if I add some stuff in the script about you? I was like, ‘Well, about me, or about the character?’ He was like, ‘No, no, no, just add some stuff in the script, just like, character stuff.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, no problem.’”
Anthony Mackie said Eminem used real-life information to diss him in ‘8 Mile’ battle
When it was time to shoot the final rap battle, Mackie realized Eminem planned on using real information about his life to embarrass him on stage.
“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 acknowledges that everything Eminem said was true, but didn’t think it was fair the rapper was getting so personal.
“His whole final battle, I’m like, ‘Yeah, I grew up in a nice house, and yeah, my parents, they were nice to me. Why are you poking fun at me?’” Mackie said.
Everybody loved the scene except for Anthony Mackie
After the scene was finished, Eminem couldn’t have been happier about the results. However, Mackie wasn’t too amused.
“He literally walked over and was like, ‘Yo that’s gonna be dope,’” Mackie recalled. “I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s gonna be great for you, I’m happy for you. I’ll just stand over here …”
Mackie was determined to defend himself, and asked director Curtis Hanson if he could fight back. Unfortunately, Hanson had no interest in adding more battles to the script.
“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.’”
Even though Mackie lost to Eminem in an embarrassing fashion in 8 Mile, it’s safe to say that both entertainers ended up just fine.
