Grazer Knew From The Star That Eminem Could Act

Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times chatted with ‘8 Mile’ producer Brian Grazer and Eminem about the film. Boucher asked Grazer why he thought Eminem was the one who could star in a “meaningful” hip-hop film. “I never had any doubt,” Grazer says. “Just seeing him on TV for six seconds I knew he could act. And then when he came here and I was with him, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him…. And this movie is going to change the way a lot of people look at him.” For his account, Slim said the film “made me strip my ego back down to the guy I was in ’95. Everything from the schooling in acting to the broke world that Jimmy lived in was strange. It brought me back to actually feeling like the guy I was.”