If the famous rap battle on 8 Mile felt real, that’s because it was. Anthony Mackie recently revealed that Eminem was dissing him in real life, not his character Papa Doc, in the scene.

The 46-year-old actor joined Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder on their The Pivot podcast and gushed over the Detroit rapper’s creative genius. “Eminem is such a brilliant dude,” he said. “We’re on set one day and he’s like, ‘Yo, it doesn’t make sense that we’re beefing.’ I was like, ‘Right!’ He says, ‘I need something on you.’ So we talked for like two hours, chilling.”

He continued, explaining how Slim Shady used facts such as Mackie coming from a privileged background and attending a private school to his advantage in the scene, making the disses even more scathing. “The next day we’re shooting the battle scene, and that’s why I’m standing there like, ‘You’re talking about me, you’re not talking about Clarence [Papa Doc]. That has nothing to do with the character. You’re an a**hole, Eminem!’” he said. “I’m like, ‘I wanna fight this motherf**ka!’”

Anthony Mackie has previously spoken about the scene and how he felt it should have gone differently. “I said, ‘For the final scene, it should be a back and forth,’” he recalled telling director Curtis Hanson during an interview with Esquire. “He goes, ‘Okay.’ I said, ‘So I should go first, he should go second. Then it’s a tie, then we have to have a battle off, then he goes, [and] then I choke.’” His suggestion was ultimately not used, but that may have been a blessing in disguise, given how popular it is.

Eminem’s movie days are behind him, but he is still operating at a high level musically. Last year, he released The Death Of Slim Shady: Coup De Grâce, one of the highest-selling rap albums of 2024. The LP moved 281,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys in February.

Big Sean, JID, BabyTron, Jelly Roll, and more appeared on the album. He also released a deluxe version which featured Westside Boogie and 2 Chainz. Listen below.