Eminem close to 'Jumper' lead role

Eminem

Director Doug Liman has claimed that Eminem was close to being given the lead role in his new action movie Jumper.

He revealed that studio bosses were keen to cast the rapper in the film and that several meetings took place with the musician.

Liman said that it was only his insistence that Hayden Christensen should take the part that prevented Eminem from appearing in the film.

The Bourne Ultimatum producer told MTV: "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'."