According to producer Todd Lieberman, Eminem was the first choice to play the lead role of Micky Ward in the 2010 boxing film “The Fighter,” which won two Oscars.
Lieberman explained that discussions of Eminem’s involvement in the film followed the success of his performance in the 2002 film “8 Mile,” in which he played an aspiring rapper named B-Rabbit, drawing from his own experiences. Although Lieberman acknowledged that there was a real possibility of Eminem being cast in the role, he did not provide details about how close it came to happening or why it didn’t work out.
During a recent appearance on the Hollywood Gold podcast, The Fighter producer Todd Lieberman said:
Many rewrites later, we started getting some direct attraction and Brad Weston, who is a formidable producer and studio executive and also a kind of a legend in the business, was at Paramount at that time and a giant fan of the movie, the first person that we thought would star in this film, was Eminem. Eminem was going to be Micky Ward!
That was a moment in time when he had come off of 8 Mile, and he was interested in making movies, and he wanted to do a boxing movie. So that was something we pursued for a minute. And there was real life in that for a minute.
Lieberman further revealed that the project saw several well-known actors come and go during the development process, including a plan to cast Matt Damon as Micky and Brad Pitt as Dicky. However, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale ultimately landed the roles and the movie went on to earn $177 million worldwide and received seven Oscar nominations, with Bale winning Best supporting actor and Melissa Leo taking home the award for Best supporting actress.
