The daily gossip: Eminem almost played Mad Max, Bob Odenkirk details his on-set heart attack, and more

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Eminem.
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1. 'Mad Max: Fury Road' director almost cast Eminem as Max

Oh what a lovely day for mom's spaghetti! Vulture published an excerpt from reporter Kyle Buchanan's upcoming book about the making of Mad Max: Fury Road, and it's filled with some fascinating casting what-ifs. For one, Rihanna was considered to play one of the wives who Furiosa (Charlize Theron) escapes with and actually had a meeting with director George Miller about it. But the book also suggests somewhere out there in the multiverse, the role of Max went not to Tom Hardy, but to … Eminem? "I have a very, very, very strong memory of George talking about Eminem for Max," storyboard artist Mark Sexton revealed, noting the idea was taken so seriously, he was asked to redraw storyboards to "put blond hair on Max." The idea ended up hitting one relatable snag: "We were going to shoot it in Australia," Miller said, "and [Eminem] simply didn't want to leave home." Miller is set to make a Furiosa film, though, so perhaps he's still got one more shot, one more opportunity for a role.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.