The Interview is a 2014 American political satire action-comedy film produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial collaboration, following This Is the End (2013). The film was released in theaters on December 25, 2014, after being delayed due to security threats over its content and the mockery of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un. It stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists who arrange an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, played by Randall Park, only to be recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
American rapper Eminem made a cameo, portraying a fictionalized version of himself. Known for his homophobic lyrics, he reveals that it was an intentional ploy to hide his true sexuality, coming out as gay. This shocks the newsroom, who then quickly milk the moment for ratings. Billboard wrote, "Of course, the entire thing is scripted and presumably not real, but Marshall Mathers deadpans the scene convincingly."[1] Other news outlets similarly had headlines about Eminem satirically coming out. A year later, in an interview on Sway in the Morning, Em revealed that he had to do multiple takes of the interview scene because he couldn't stop laughing. He continued, "He [Franco] was so animated and it was like, damn, I wanna be the funny one here. And he was killin' it."
Synopsis[]
In the action-comedy The Interview, Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show "Skylark Tonight." When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two least-qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-un.
Transcript[]
| Dave Skylark | Good evening. I'm Dave Skylark. Tonight, we are joined by 13-time Grammy winner, Oscar-winning songwriter, Detroit's own Eminem. He'll speak with us about his new album, which has been mired in controversy concerning lyrics that some view as demeaning to the elderly. Tonight... on Skylark Tonight. |
|---|---|
| Aaron Rapoport | And... action. |
| Dave Skylark | "It's hell to be Shady / Yesterday I yelled a degrading insult at an elderly lady / Then I asked her how it felt to be eighty..." F'word "a senior citizen / Suck a wiener, sit and spin. / And why you drive so slow for? / Don't you want to get where you're going faster / Since you'll probably die tomorrow, you old whore? / Die, old bitch, die, before I murder you." What do you mean by this, Em? |
| Eminem | Well, first of all, I feel like, when I rap, like, people twist my words. |
| Dave Skylark | Okay, but can you see how an old person might say, "I think what this guy is telling me... This Eminem... is that I should go kill myself, and I... you know, I don't like that." |
| Eminem | I mean, I don't necessarily rap about the things that I hate. It's more about... the things that I fear. |
| Dave Skylark | I get you. |
| Eminem | You know, it's like, if I say something about women or whatever... |
| Dave Skylark | Yes. |
| Eminem | I think a lot of that is more or less just me dealing with issues with... you know, old issues with my mom or whatever. |
| Dave Skylark | With your "mutha." |
| Eminem | Yeah, or... you know, when I say things about gay people or people think that my lyrics are homophobic, you know, it's because I'm gay. Um, when I rap about violence— |
| Dave Skylark | Wait... |
| Eminem | —or, you know, sound like I'm promoting violence, I think that, uh... you know, it's more or less because... |
| Aaron Rapoport | What? What, what, what? |
| Eminem | You know, it's kind of... it's kind of about me just, you know, confronting it. |
| Aaron Rapoport | What did he say? Wait, can we play that...? |
| He said he was gay. | |
| Darryl | Did he just...? |
| Aaron Rapoport | Dave? Dave? |
| Darryl | Did he just say he was gay? |
| Aaron Rapoport | We're pretty sure in the booth we just heard him say he was gay. |
| Dave Skylark | Em, let's just... back it up a moment. You... just said that you were gay? Um... and I'm just curious what you meant by that exactly. |
| Eminem | I mean I'm gay. |
| Dave Skylark | Uh, I'm just a little confused here, because "gay" can mean a lot of things. |
| Eminem | I am a homosexual. |
| Dave Skylark | Meaning...? |
| Eminem | I like men. |
| Darryl | What the fuck just happened? |
| Aaron Rapoport | Eminem just said he was gay... four times! That's what the fuck just happened! |
| Darryl | Holy shit. |
| Aaron Rapoport | Holy shit! Eminem's gay on our show. Eminem's gay on our show! Oh, my God! ...Camera two! Camera two! |
| Gay Twitter! Gay Twitter's blowing up, holy shit! | |
| Aaron Rapoport | Change the chyron. "Eminem Gay?!" Question mark, exclamation mark. Dave, keep him talking. Keep him talking. |
| Oh, my God. | |
| Holy shit. | |
| Aaron Rapoport | Push in on gay Eminem! This is the greatest moment in gay history! |
| Dave Skylark | ...are probably shocked by what you're saying right now. |
| Eminem | I'm more shocked that people haven't figured it out yet. I mean, it's kind of like I've been playing gay peekaboo. |
| Dave Skylark | Gay peekaboo. |
| Eminem | Yeah. But, um... |
| Aaron Rapoport | Shit. Camera one. Camera one. |
| Marshall's publicist | This interview is over. Shut it off. |
| Aaron Rapoport | No! |
| Marshall's publicist | Shut it off. |
| Aaron Rapoport | Go get him out of here! Get him the fuck out of here, Darryl. |
| Marshall's publicist | I am Marshall's publicist, and I'm telling you, pull the fucking plug right now. |
| Aaron Rapoport | No. This is gold. I am not cutting this interview off. This is the best interview we've ever done. |
| Marshall's publicist | What happens if I just do this? |
| Aaron Rapoport | No, get out. |
| Marshall's publicist | ...Shut it off! Shut it off! |
| Aaron Rapoport | Get him out of here! Get him the fuck out of here! |
| Marshall's publicist | I will murder you and everyone you love! |
| Aaron Rapoport | Thank you. Dave, look, I got the lyrics. Say what I say. |
| Dave Skylark | What did you mean when you rapped... |
| Aaron Rapoport | "I said nice rectum, I had a..." |
| Dave Skylark | "...vasectomy, Hector. So you can't get pregnant if I bisexually wreck ya." |
| Eminem | I've pretty much just been leaving a breadcrumb trail of gayness. |
| Dave Skylark | I see that now. |
| Eminem | You know. But yeah, actually Hector... Hector was a... was a real person. |
| Dave Skylark | Hector and his rectum were real? |
| Darryl | Holy shit. Hector's rectum is real! |
| Aaron Rapoport | Yes! Yes! |
References[]
- ↑ Lynch, Joe (December 26, 2014). "Eminem Comes Out as Gay in Sony's 'The Interview'". Billboard.