Acting His Rage
How controversial rapper Eminem brought his sound and fury (and an uncharacteristic dash of humility) to ''8 Mile'' -- an excerpt from Entertainment Weekly's Nov. 8, 2002, cover story by Daniel Fierman
SAYING CHEESE IS CHEESY Eminem takes his angst to the big screen in ''8 Mile,'' opening Nov. 8
''Bitches and gentlemen! It's showtime! Hurry, hurry, step righ up! Introducing the star of our show. His name is MAR-SHALL!'' -- ''Business'' from ''The Eminem Show''
Not so fast. Marshall Mathers III, possibly the most hated young white man in America, is not here. Not yet. But the Eminem show -- that bloody carnival of relentless press coverage, hilarity and hurt, idiocy and artistry -- is about the open a tent in your multiplex. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it.
His movie, ''8 Mile'' -- a term for the literal and symbolic dividing line between white and black in his native Detroit -- is poised to bring the multiplatinum rapper even greater stardom. No ''Krush Groove II,'' it's got a real pedigree: directed by critics' darling Curtis Hanson and produced by Hollywood mainstay Brian Grazer. It's also a real music enterprise: the brainchild of Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg and Interscope Records chief Jimmy Iovine, with a major soundtrack featuring the likes of Nas, Jay-Z, and Marshall Mathers himself. And no matter what anyone says, it was a real headache, marked by corporate fretting, infighting, and creeping discontent.
But here's the remarkable part: Not one bit was caused by the most controversial man in show business.
EW Why make a movie?
EMINEM Um, well. Shit. In 2000 people were offering me roles and I thought it was something I might want to dabble in. But I was doin' the music so much, I was like, I'll do it later. The issue got pressed when Brian Grazer got involved. So I had a few meetings with [screenwriter] Scott Silver and basically me and Proof, who is one of my best friends, got together with him and we were just kickin' it, like, ''Remember that time?'' We told him about how we used to do it, how we used to battle [other rappers], the clubs we used to go to, showed him tapes of me at the Rap Olympics and Scribble Jam. When the script got sent to me, well, I don't like to read. That's like the worst thing in the world for me to do. You know, sit down and read somethin'? I hate reading. But I read the first coupla pages and couldn't stop.
Since Eminem's 1999 major-label debut, ''The Slim Shady LP,'' dropped, everything from his terrible relationship with his mother to his homophobia to his bitter 2001 divorce from his wife, Kim, has gotten all-too-vocal treatment. But what's largely left unsaid by champions and critics alike is this: There may be no more valuable commodity in entertainment. Since he was discovered four years ago by an intern at Interscope Records and signed by hip-hop don Dr. Dre, Eminem has sold 30 million albums worldwide. Talk all you want about his unparalleled cultural influence and endless MTV airplay; the deliberately offensive lyrics and the ire of politicians and parents; and, of course, those blue eyes and that white skin. But for his label and the folks in Hollywood, it all boils down to that number. Thirty million.
''The only reason you can't say Eminem has saved the music industry is because it isn't saved yet,'' says Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M. ''He's done the best of anyone out there. You cannot overstate his importance.'' Amy Doyle, an MTV music programming vice president, concurs: ''He gives the industry hope.''
So you can imagine the dread that ricocheted through the Interscope offices when the star and his manager announced that they were considering taking a risk: making a mainstream Hollywood movie. ''It was a very, very, very dangerous thing to do,'' says Iovine. ''If you miss, it could wipe everything out.''
Hanson was interested in making a movie about young people, race, and class, and Eminem was the (very famous) face that would get it financed. The rapper and his camp were surprisingly pleased with Hanson. Sure, he had virtually no working knowledge of hip-hop, or, until now, Eminem's world, but he had a reputation for being deeply skilled at creating a sense of place and handling actors. And the filmmaker had no trepidation about working with a man awash in controversy, who had pled guilty to a concealed-weapons charge in February 2001, just seven months before the start of preproduction.
''Everybody knew we needed a serious director and Em was going to need rigid structure,'' says Rosenberg. ''I've seen Em steamroll over video directors. We needed someone who was going to be able to, very basically, DIRECT him.''
There was just one other concern. Aside from his music videos and a couple of movie cameos, Eminem had never acted before. As Ice Cube -- the hardcore hip-hop figure who probably has had the most success crossing over into movies -- says, ''You got it or you don't. The camera loves you or it hates you.'' And until they got to Detroit to start shooting, no one knew which it would be.
EW Were you worried about acting?
EMINEM At first I thought it was going to be easy. I actually said that! [Curtis and I] had a conversation in my driveway and I said, ''I don't think there's anything to this acting thing. Once I can focus on something and just give it 100 percent, I won't let you down.'' And he laughed and was like, ''Marshall, I'm gonna tell you like this, it's not as easy as it looks.'' When I started going through rehearsals I started realizing, f---!
EW What were the rehearsals like?
EMINEM Grueling. And weird because I had never done this before. But the scenes started getting better once I started memorizing my lines. That's basically what it's about, but it's also a little bit of ad-libbing and taking the lines and saying them your own way just to make them feel real.
EW What made you trust Curtis?
EMINEM Well, I had seen ''The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.'' But people kept telling me about ''L.A. Confidential'' and so I watched it. Three times. I was like, damn! 'Cause it was a good movie and there was shit that I didn't get until the third time. That's when I knew, yo, this guy isn't playing. Then Mekhi [Phifer] jumped aboard. And then Brittany [Murphy] came along. And then we heard we were gettin' Kim Basinger and we were like, ''Oh, shit! I cannot slouch on this.''
EW How did you feel the first day of shooting? EMINEM It was weird. But my problem has never really been being shy in front of a camera. You know what I mean?
It was cold. It was dark. And unless you enjoy touring vacant lots, there was pretty much jack to do. Welcome to the fun park that is Detroit in the fall, where Curtis Hanson set to the task of playing hip-hop Henry Higgins. He had six weeks.
''We started just the two of us and an acting coach,'' says Hanson of the remarkably long rehearsal period. ''I had him read with actors I was considering and as soon as I hired actors to play his friends, we brought them all into the rehearsal process. I was thinking it would be easier if he was comfortable with these guys.''
As Eminem lost 20 pounds for the role, the cast bulked up. Mekhi Phifer (''Paid in Full)'' signed on to play Rabbit's best friend. Brittany Murphy -- hot off ''Don't Say a Word'' -- added sizzle as Rabbit's love interest. And Basinger added another Oscar to the mix, reteaming with her ''L.A. Confidential'' director to play Rabbit's working-class mom. For authenticity, 22 out of the remaining 32 speaking roles were filled by Detroit natives and amateurs.
In early September 2001, rehearsals started. ''How good was he when he started? [Pause] Okay, you have to promise you'll print this whole answer,'' says Hanson. ''He was bad. When he read the lines off the page, and tried to act them, it was bad. On the other hand, what he had from the beginning is a natural charisma -- a thing that makes you interested in watching him and hearing what comes out of his mouth. As frustrating as it is to all the wannabe actors out there, that's God-given. You either have it or you don't. And he has it in spades.''
''Em was scared,'' says costar Eugene Byrd (''Sleepers''), who plays budding impresario Wink. ''I know that he's going to hate that I put that out there, but he was really frightened.'' And why wouldn't he be? The rapper was in virtually every frame, and a $40 million movie and his recording career were riding on his performance. So he toiled around the clock in three trailers: one in which he could record music, one for working out, and one for honing his acting. At Hanson's urging he also took his costars, who were stranded in an unfamiliar city, under his wing. ''We went to football games, we partied together, went to a couple of rap battles,'' says Phifer, who was rewarded with a shout-out from the rapper on the soundtrack's first single.
So is it possible that Hollywood and Eminem went to Detroit and everything went smoothly? No.
The production was trailed by local media, community activists were up in arms about a house the filmmakers burned down for one sequence, and rumors flew that Eminem was first dating Kim Basinger (she says they weren't, but declined to be interviewed for this story) and then Brittany Murphy (who responds, ''I would like to always respect the one ounce of privacy that he has. I cherished working with him and cherish him''). Paul Rosenberg was on the set every day to protect the interests of the label and keep an eye on how Eminem was being used. ''I was there to make sure we weren't doin' stupid stuff,'' he says. ''But I don't think I [knew] how bad it could have been until we were done and I realized that you have to leave it in the director's hands. He could mold it into either a beautiful work of art or piece of crap. It's out of your control.''
Welcome to Hollywood. Early this year, Hanson went off to do his molding. But it was only in September, when Hanson brought ''8 Mile'' to the Toronto International Film Festival as a ''work in progress,'' that Eminem's explosiveness truly became clear to the filmmakers. At the screening, a frisson went through Elgin Theatre when, in an impromptu battle, Rabbit defends an openly gay coworker, rhyming to his opponent: ''Paul's gay/But you're a faggot.'' With that seeming sop toward the gay community, all of a sudden the audience wasn't watching ''8 Mile.'' They were watching The Eminem Show. And you can bet his critics were paying attention. ''I believe that scene was strategically put in there to get media attention as well as reveal in an artificial way the many layers of this man,'' says Scott Seomin, entertainment media director of GLAAD. ''[But] I don't think he's all that complicated.''
Of course, the controversy just serves to illustrate Universal's sticky problem: How do you sell a movie starring a 30-year-old man who provokes outright hatred in much of America and carries so much anger that he almost got into a fight with a PUPPET at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards? ''Eminem occupies a very unique space,'' says Adam Fogelson, president of marketing for Universal Pictures. ''And if he had suddenly said, 'I want to do 'Access Hollywood,' I hope we would have been smart enough to say, 'We don't think that's a good idea.' When things like [his blowup at] the VMAs happen, um, do you have a tinge of nervousness? Sure. But we cannot ask him to be anything other than what he is.'' That's just it. For better or worse, there is only one Eminem. And he's ready for his close-up.
EW Here's a line from ''Say Goodbye to Hollywood'' off ''The Eminem Show'': ''If I could go back/I never woulda rapped/I sold my soul to the devil/I'll never get it back/I just wanna leave this game with level head intact.'' Do you worry that this movie will make that harder to do? EMINEM I didn't know that the movie was gonna turn out like it did. I never thought that the buzz would even get to this level. I don't know. [Pauses] Yeah. It's a little spooky. I mean, thinking how many records I've sold and all the things that I've been through, how could I possibly get any bigger? And if I do, how can I deal with that? I don't know.
EW So, do you want to be a movie star? EMINEM I never intended that. I wanted to make a movie because I felt my story was unique but at the same time not. If other roles [come up]? I don't know. I'll be too old to rap someday. Or when the music slows down. Then maybe. Yeah, I'll take another role.
