February 18, 2008 11:14

Eminem nearly landed lead part in 'Jumper'

Director reveals how the rapper was in contention for Hayden Christensen's role

Photo Gallery: Eminem
Photo: Pa Photos

Doug Liman, writer and director of new Hollywood action film ‘Jumper’, has revealed that Eminem was nearly given the lead role in the film, which eventually went to Hayden Christensen.

The director explained that he had meetings with Eminem and that the film’s studio, 20th Century Fox, wanted to offer him the lead role ahead of Christensen.

Speaking to MTVNews.com, Liman said: “We did have a meeting and conversations with Eminem.

“If I've proven anything to myself, it's that I can tailor a role to an actor. [I could] develop the role with [someone like Eminem] and make it extremely specific to them. So as long as the person has acting chops, I'm open to talking to almost anybody for almost any role.

“It was one of those things where the studio, with all things being equal, would rather put a bigger name [Eminem] in the movie. At some point, I just put my foot down and said, 'I love Hayden’.”

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