After making his acclaimed acting debut in the semi-autobiographical8 Mile, Marshall Mathers - akaEminem- became one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood. For a brief time, the already-famous rapper explored the possibility of becoming an actor.
However, despite his blistering and heartfelt performance in8 Mile, Eminem has only appeared in a handful of movies since 2002, popping up in small roles and glorified cameos in movies likeThe InterviewandFunny People. This isn’t because he wasn’t getting offers; as a matter of fact, Eminem was approached many times to star in some huge blockbuster films. But the notorious rapper is also notoriously picky when signing onto projects that will take time away from his family and music career. Believe it or not, here are eight big movie roles that Eminem turned down.
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8The Fighter
BeforeMark Wahlberg made the role of Micky Ward his own,Eminem was very close to starringas the underdog boxer inThe Fighter.
The gritty Oscar-winning drama went through a number of different iterations before David O’Russell signed on to direct. According to producer Todd Lieberman, Eminem was coming off the huge success of8 Mileand wanted to make a boxing movie. Lieberman considered Slim Shady perfect for the role of Ward, and brought the idea to him. While he doesn’t specify how close Eminem was to taking the role, Lieberman said there was a very real possibility of it happening.
When Eminem eventually passed on the project for unknown reasons, it was pitched to Matt Damon and Brad Pitt for the roles of Mickey Ward and his trainer / half-brother Dicky Eklund, respectively. Darren Aronofsky was set to direct this version of the film, but the project ultimately fell through.
7The Fast and the Furious
Paul Walker will forever be rememberedfor his role as Brian O’Connor in the wildly popularFast and the Furiousfranchise. As difficult as it is to envision anyone else playing that part, there was a brief moment of time whena few actors up for the part, including Eminem.
Before Walker took on the role, Eminem was originally asked to star in the movie.Twice. However, scheduling conflicts with8 Mileprevented Eminem from accepting the job. Stranger still, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale were also considered for the O’Conner character before Paul Walker was (thankfully) chosen.
Before Matt Damon signed on as the lead in 2013’sElysium, directorNeill Blomkamp approached Eminemfor the role.
The $115 million sci-fi blockbuster was originally envisioned as a smaller, grittier movie. Blomkamp’s first choice was South African rapper Ninja (from Die Antwoord). But Ninja had never acted before, and was hesitant to board such a big project for his debut. Before long he backed out.
With Ninja no longer interested, Blomkamp reached out to Eminem. While the rapper Eminem was intrigued by the opportunity, he would only agree to the part if they could film the movie in Detroit. When Blomkamp couldn’t make that work, Eminem dropped out of the project.
When director Doug Liman was casting the lead role in his 2008 sci-fi action filmJumper, he met with a lot of actors.One of them happened to be Slim Shady.
When the script forJumpercame across Eminem’s desk, he met with Liman to discuss the possibility of starring in the movie. According to the director, it was more the producer’s idea to cast him, but Liman was nevertheless impressed by the rapper and willing to work with him to build out the role to fit his persona and abilities.
However, once Liman auditioned Hayden Christensen, talks between him and Eminem fizzled out. While Eminem technically didn’t turn down the role, it’s interesting to imagine a version of Eminem as an action star.
4Training Day
Before Eminem made his acting debut in8 Mile, he was originallyslated to starin Antoine Fuqua’s gritty 2000 crime dramaTraining Day.
The film stars Denzel Washingtonas corrupt narcotics officer Alonzo Harris, who takes Ethan Hawke’s ambitious but naive Jake Hoyt character under his wing. When Eminem was first approached to star in the movie, rumors claimed he was up for the role of Hoyt. But he was actually approached to play one of Alonzo’s seedy criminal associates. Had he accepted the role, he would’ve starred along Snoop Dogg and his mentor, Dr. Dre.
3Rival Gangs
At some point in his career,Eminem was offered $8 millionto star alongside fellow rapper 50 Cent in a movie where the two were set to playrival gang membersin Detroit, Michigan.
50 Cent has said Eminem was initially excited to star in the movie, especially because they would’ve filmed in his hometown of Detroit (being able to go home every night was a big deal for the rapper). However, Eminem wanted to change the script so that it more resembled the 1979 cult classicThe Warriors.It’s unclear if 50 Cent rejected the proposed changes, but the project ultimately never came to fruition.
Prior to casting Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky inMad Max: Fury Road, director George Miller was interested in having Eminem potentially play the lead role.
In an interview withVulture, Miller confirmed that he had become interested in casting the rapper after seeing his performance in8 Mile. His co-star in the movie, Britney Murphy, sang Eminem’s praise to George Miller, who decided to meet with the rapper to discuss starring in the film. While he was interested in the movie, the film was to be shot in Australia, and Eminem didn’t want to leave Detroit. That was ultimately a deal-breaker, and Eminem dropped out. It’s crazy to envision whatFury Roadwould look like with Eminem in that part.
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Producers Alan and Peter Ritchie developed the boxing dramaSouthpawas a starring vehicle for Eminem. They found the actor to have an undeniably raw and attention-grabbing screen presence, and thought the father-daughter relationship at the heart of the story would’ve appealed to him, whose daughter Hailie has been a large influence on his life and career.
When the producing partners reached out to Eminem, he signed on within 24 hours. When Antoine Fuqua came on to direct, he flew out to meet Eminem and the two hit it off. The project was officially greenlit, but four weeks before Eminem was scheduled to begin training for the movie, the rapper dropped out of the project, as he wanted to focus on his next album.
Alan and Peter were heartbroken by Eminem’s decision, but they didn’t want it to derail the project. The producing duo reached out to Aaron Paul, Travis Fimmell, and Charlie Hunnam for the role of Billy Hope, before ultimately choosing Jake Gyllenhaal.
Although Eminem didn’t star inSouthpaw, he loved the film and Gyllenhaal’s performance in it. The rapper would go on to write and perform two original songs for the movie, and release its soundtrack on his record label.
