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Actor Anthony Mackie starred alongside rapper and songwriter Eminem in his debut film, 8 Mile, in 2002. Sharing his experience of sharing the screen with M&M, Mackie called the hip-hop artist “a brilliant dude” during his appearance on the March 11, 2025 episode of Pivot Podcast.
8 Mile was partially centred around Eminem’s rise in the Detroit hip-hop scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s and saw his character Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith Jr. face off against Anthony’s Clarence aka “Papa Doc” in a rap battle.
Mackie recalled during his latest podcast appearance that one day Eminem approached him on the movie set and stated:
"'Yo, it don't make sense that we beefing.' I was like, 'Right?' He was like, 'I need something on you.' So, we're talking. We talked for, like, two hours, chilling. I'm like, 'All right, man, I'll see you later.'"
The Captain America star recounted that after the off-screen conversation, he went to a casino near the set and met Eminem the next day during the film’s climax scene shoot. That is when Anthony Mackie realized that Eminem had centered the final on-screen rap battle on his life rather than his character, Papa Doc.
For those unaware, Em’s B-Rabbit took a dig at Papa Doc’s gangster persona in the final rap battle in 8 Mile and claimed the latter lived a safe and privileged life and had middle class roots, where his real name was Clarence, he attended Cranbrook private school, and his parents were happily married.
While the last point was directly derived from Mackie’s life, the name Clarence was fictional, as was Cranbrook private school, as Anthony did not attend such a school in real life, as per Screen Rant.
Exploring Anthony Mackie’s education in wake of 8 Mile revelation
Anthony Mackie was born in September 1978 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to carpenter and roofing business owner Willie Mackie Sr. and his wife Martha Gordon. He is the youngest of six siblings.
The Twisted Metal star attended Warren Easton Sr. High School as well as the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). Later, he graduated high school drama program from North Carolina School of Arts (NCSA) in 1997.
At age 17, Anthony Mackie moved to New York City where he attended Juilliard School’s Drama Division as a member of Group 30 and graduated in 2001. His batch included celebrities such as Tracie Thoms and Lee Pace, among others.
The 46-year-old Marvel actor shared during the recent podcast that studying at Juilliard prepared him to play any role he wanted with flexibility. In a 2021 episode of Hot Ones, Anthony Mackie admitted his Juilliard training also helped him with his hip-hop and acting skills.
"I find myself very lucky to have studied Shakespeare. The idea of approaching a rapper from the perspective of an actor, you're really just speaking in poems. I always said, one of the greatest rappers [who] ever lived was Shakespeare," he exclaimed at the time.
The father of four added that if not for his Juilliard training, he wouldn’t have been able to play the likes of Tupac, Martin Luther King, Papa Doc, and Falcon, on screen.
"The training is just something that gives you an extra layer to stand on," he concluded.
Anthony Mackie echoed similar sentiments during a 2021 interview with Sharp Magazine, where he noted listening to his professor in the drama school who asked him not to lose the New Orleans side of him. Speaking about his versatility, he mentioned:
“I find it hilarious that people are surprised that the same person who played Papa Doc is now Captain America. That’s the ultimate compliment to a career.”
More about Anthony Mackie’s latest remarks about Eminem
During his appearance on Tuesday on the Pivot Podcast, Anthony Mackie shared that after Eminem took him on in the final rap battle scene in 8 Mile and eventually beat him, he realized:
"That's why I'm standing there like, 'You're talking about me! You're not talking about Clarence!' That has nothing to do with the character. You're an a**hole, Eminem. I'm like, yes, I'm gonna fight this motherf**ker," Mackie explained.
Notably, this is not the first time Anthony shared the incident. Earlier, during his appearance on the Rich Eisen Show in 2021, he recounted Eminem asked him for his consent before adding his own versions to the script, which Mackie wasn’t aware of.
“There was this one day, we were sitting on the set and Eminem comes over and he’s like ‘what’s up man?’ He was like, 'I was reading the script, and I was kinda thinking, there's no reason for me not to like you. You're a cool dude, I like you.' I was like, 'I like you too.' He was like, 'Cool, so you don't mind if I add some stuff in the script about you?'”
Back then, Anthony Mackie claimed he made sure the rapper was talking about his character Papa Doc, the leader of Free World rap group, and not himself; he also gave Eminem the green light.
"So, he goes and his entire battle, the final rap. He Googles me and learns about me and all this stuff. He basically makes fun of me as Papa Doc. I'm like, 'Well that's a little too personal there, Mr. Marshall! ... I grew up in a nice house, my parents were nice to me, why are you making fun of me?'"
The 2021 version of Anthony Mackie’s story is different from his recent 2025 version. It remains unknown which actually happened. Curtis Hanson's directorial 8 Mile was not only Anthony’s debut but also Eminem's, and earned the latter Best Original Song for Lose Yourself at the 2003 Academy Awards.
