Mekhi Phifer has recently sat down on Cruz Show to talk about his Apple TV+ show called “Truth Be Told.” He also spoke about having an unfinished album from the 90’s, almost passing on 8 Mile role and more, Plus, Lechero also tells a hilarious story about how Mekhi helped him get some action.
At one point during the interview, Mekhi Phifer was asked to recall never before heard story about Eminem’s box-office topping movie 8 Mile. “When we did 8 Mile, that was back in 2001, when we were shooting and it was released in 2002,” he said. “When we shot it, we were all single men, Eminem was at height of his career, we are shooting in Detroit, in his hometown, he was the biggest rapper at that time. Period. And we had fun in Detroit. I’m not going into detail. I don’t need to. But the thing is, we had a great time. Camaraderie was real.”
Then he continues: “I’ll tell you quick story. I initially turned down 8 Mile. Because, my agency man called me like ‘look, Curtis Hanson is directing this movie 8 Mile.’ I love Curtis Hanson. He done L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys, excellent director. And they said ‘yes, the movie with Eminem.’ I said ‘c’mon man, now you playing games.’ Because I loved his music but I never seen him act before. I think all I saw was The Wash movie where he had a quick cameo.”
“They would not release the script. It was hush-hush. So my agency convinced me ‘please just go Curtis’ office and read the script. I read the script and loved it. I was like ‘this is actually really freaking good.’ Then they flew me to Detroit. I hang out with Eminem for few days and we just hit it off. I didn’t know he was a fan of me. I was fan of his too. I saw how serious he was about really putting together something really nice and I camaraderie because I’m basically loosely playing Proof. That’s why I had those crazy dreads. Because when Proof was hosting those battles in 1995, he had those dreads. They offered me the role. I went down and we had month of rehearsal. By the time we started shooting, I knew the whole script. There was nothing to really study. So, it was party time. And we were at our 20s, forget it… It was going down!”
You can watch the interview below:
