You may have seen a bunch of images, or even the trailer for the upcoming boxing pic Southpaw, which clearly displays a buffed-up Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead (see above). Well, the role that Gyllenhaal plays in the movie, Billy Hope, was originally supposed to be played by rapper/actor Eminem when the project was in development, back in 2010.
The film, according to the screenwriter, Kurt Sutter (Sons Of Anarchy), is loosely based on Eminem’s ‘struggles’ in life with boxing being used as a metaphor. Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, left the project in 2011 to concentrate on his music, but despite being replaced by Gyllenhaal, he still features on the film’s soundtrack, and his song ‘Phenomenal’ has just been released online.
Antoine Fuqua directs Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams in the film, which arrives in cinemas (US) on July 24th.
Listen to Eminem’s track ‘Phenomenal’ below.
