Anthony Mackie Reveals Eminem’s 8 Mile Disses Were Personal

Anthony Mackie may be known as Captain America today, but hip-hop fans will always remember him as Papa Doc—the battle rapper who went head-to-head (and lost spectacularly) to Eminem in 8 Mile. The climactic scene is one of the most iconic in rap film history, but according to Mackie, the insults Eminem delivered weren’t just scripted—they were personal.

Speaking on The Pivot Podcast, Mackie revealed that Eminem went the extra mile to make the battle feel real. The rapper asked for details about Mackie’s personal life, then used them to craft his disses.

“We’re doing the movie, and Eminem is just such a brilliant dude,” Mackie recalled. “We’re on set one day, and he said, ‘Yo, I need something on you.'”

Mackie thought they were just having casual conversations, but the next day on set, those same details were thrown back at him in front of the cameras.

“Next day we’re shooting the battle scene,” Mackie said. “And I’m like, ‘You talking about me—you not talking about Clarence!'”

The actor jokingly called Eminem an “a**hole” but admitted that the personal nature of the bars made his performance more authentic.

“I’m like, ‘I will fight this motherf**ker.'”

Mackie’s Battle Rap Preparation

8 Mile was the film debut for both Mackie and Eminem, and the project went on to be a huge success, even winning an Oscar for Best Original Song (Lose Yourself). Despite his early concerns about convincingly playing a battle rapper, Mackie credited his theater background for helping him get into character.

“The idea of approaching a rapper from the perspective of an actor, you’re really just speaking in poems,” he said during Hot Ones in 2021. “I always said, one of the greatest rappers ever lived was Shakespeare.”

From Papa Doc to Tupac

Mackie later played another legendary rapper in the 2009 film Notorious, portraying Tupac Shakur in the biopic about The Notorious B.I.G. This time, however, he didn’t have to worry about being personally insulted in a battle.

Interestingly, Eminem was heavily influenced by Tupac’s rhyming style and even produced a posthumous Tupac album, Loyal to the Game, in 2004. Mackie’s connection to both artists makes for a fascinating full-circle moment—one where he’s played both the antagonist to Eminem and the legend who inspired him.