Before Southpaw, Eminem Turned Down One Oscar-Winning Boxing Movie That Would’ve Put Him Alongside Christian Bale to Test His Limits
Eminem’s 8 Mile is one of the biggest successes in his career. It was a critical and commercial success that will be hard for any artist to replicate. After the success of the movie, many wanted to bank on his skills and his sense of authenticity on screen. Eminem got offered roles that would have cemented his place as an actor in Hollywood, had he accepted them. However, the God of Rap is quite picky when it comes to movies. In fact, he only appeared in a handful of projects after 8 Mile, and that too mostly in cameo roles.
He has turned down many films in his career, like The Fast and the Furious, where he was considered for Paul Walker’s legendary role, Elysium, or even Southpaw. However, there is this one film that would have really put his acting skills to the test, as he would have been cast alongside none other than the connoisseur Christian Bale.
Eminem turned down this Oscar-winning boxing movie that would have cast him alongside Christian Bale
Although it is impossible to think of The Fighter without Mark Wahlberg playing the iconic Mike Ward, the producers actually had someone else in mind while conceptualizing the movie. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, producer Todd Lieberman revealed that it was Eminem who was on the run to play the role of the underdog Mike Ward. He said:
“The first person that we thought would star in this film was Eminem. Eminem was going to be Micky Ward. That was a moment in time where he had come off of 8 Mile, and he was interested in making movies, and he wanted to do a boxing movie. So that was something we pursued for a minute. And there was real life in that for a minute.”
After he passed on the project, it went to Matt Damon and Brad Pitt for the roles of Mickey Ward and his trainer/half-brother Dicky Eklund. However, that fell through as well before Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale took on their respective roles.
Vevo ranks Eminem as the most-viewed rapper globally in 2023
A year ago, he was the only rapper on Vevo’s top 10 artists across the globe list. He has gained over 1.8 billion views on the YouTube streaming channel. He occupied the number six position among the most streamed Vevo artists across all genres globally in 2023 and was the most viewed rapper globally in 2023.
He was surpassed by artists like Karol G, Shakira, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Feid. It is truly a phenomenal feat for the rapper to achieve.
Also Read: Mark Wahlberg Admits He Hated Eminem, Was It Because the Rapper Dissed Him in the Most Subtle Way?
Fans can listen to Juice WRLD, Eminem, and Benny Blanco’s new song Lace It on music streaming platforms now.
