Original ‘Stan’ Actor Shares What Eminem Was Really Like 25 Years Ago

The Canadian actor who famously played Stan in Eminem’s iconic music video revealed what it was like working with the famous rapper 25 years ago.

Devon Sawa, 46, played the obsessive fan who idolizes Eminem in the 52-year-old singer’s 2000 Stan music video, which features the singer Dido.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, which took place at the Stans pop-up in New York City on August 6, Devon recalled briefly working with Eminem – whose real name is Marshall Mathers – on set of the music video and explained why there’s a ‘mystique’ about him.

‘He was there [on set]. He did the scene where he comes out in the cold. He does the [meet and greet at the] table and then his bus stop [writing the letter] was separately, so we didn’t have a lot together. 

‘But I remember him being focused and just there to work. He was there to work – that’s what I remember.’

Eminem and Devon first met in the recording studio after he was hired to play the crazed fan – a role he admitted he has yet to know the real reason for why he was approached. It was initially offered to Macaulay Culkin.

‘I’ll never really know the answer to that, but what I heard was that Dr. Dre [Eminem’s longtime producer] was a huge Final Destinations fan and made a suggestion to the team about me, and somehow a friend of a friend knew somebody – a call on a landline – back in the landline days, and they were like, “Do you want to be in the music video?”‘

‘I met [Dr. Dre] for lunch and we spoke a little bit and then he sent me down to the studio where Em was recording something – I don’t know what – and I met him and two weeks later we were on set for Stan,’ Devon shared.

He went on to say that, at the time, he didn’t believe he actually looked like Eminem – until he had help from the stylists on set.

‘I didn’t feel that, but when we got on set together they cut my hair, they bleached it,’ he recounted.

‘We did this one scene in the mirror, and they were having a hard time telling who was who. We were pretty close back then [looks-wise].’

Surprised by how renowned the music video has become, Devon said, ‘I never, in a million years, thought we’d be shooting [a music video] that has lasted this long, and never mind, has created a word [“Stan”] for the dictionary. It’s very weird.’

The Final Destination actor has, sadly, not stayed in touch with Eminem all of these years, mainly because he believes the Happy Gilmore 2 star is ‘hard to get a hold of.’

‘I have gone a whole weird path and left acting for a bit, came back and started doing stuff and, apparently, he’s really hard to get a hold of,’ he insisted. 

‘It’s not like I can just call him… There’s certainly a mystique about Eminem.’

Little did he know that later on in the evening, he would get the chance to reunite with the 15-time Grammy winner – and this time, introduce him to his son, Hudson, as well. 

’25 years ago I worked with one of the greatest musicians of all time. Today he met my son. What a ride,’ Devon captioned a heartfelt photo of his son with the rapper.

Eminem, for his part, recently became a grandfather for the first time when his daughter, Hailie Jade, welcomed a baby boy, Elliot Marshall, with her husband Evan McClintock in April.

Earlier in the day on August 6, the Stans pop-up, presented by Complex, hosted a look-alike contestant, which drew many fans to join in on the fun.

Devon was on hand to help select the winner, while ‘Stans’ wondered if the music legend would make a surprise appearance. 

After Eminem was nowhere to be seen, he ended up surprising the audience at the Stans documentary premiere event, which took place on The Rooftop at Pier 17 and was attended by hundreds of fans.

The documentary Stans hit theaters on August 7, featuring rare archival footage, intimate interviews, and an exclusive original interview with Eminem himself as it explores the journey across his career and fan base. 

He told the screaming crowd, ‘When I was writing this song I didn’t understand the impact my music was having on people at the time, and it was really surreal to me – and it’s still surreal to this day to look out here and see all you, and the fact that my music has inspired you.

‘This film is a thank you to all of you for sticking by me for this whole f**king time… I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Ahead of seeing Slim Shady for the first time in 25 years, Devon told the Daily Mail what he would say if he were to see him again.

‘I would just say, “What’s up?” I would just say that I’ve enjoyed his journey as an artist. I’m still a fan.’

He continued: ‘I would try not to be a Stan. I would try my best not to be a crazy Stan, but yeah, I’m proud of what he’s done.’

The Heart Eyes actor was able to get an advanced screening of the documentary before it premiered in New York City on Wednesday.

Sharing his reaction, Devon revealed, ‘I have seen documentary. It’s powerful. It’s emotional at times. You know, the whole thing with the documentary is that they’re using Stan to kind of tell Eminem’s stories. So, there’s much more going on than just the Stan – that’s actually just a small part of the documentary.’

Devon, who continues to shoot films, said he’s never gotten into the recording studio, himself, and has only appeared in this one iconic music video.

‘If you’re gonna be in a music video, this is like [up here], you know. This is it. I did the music video and I’m done with that,’ he said.

‘You got this handful of things that you’re really, really proud of and this is definitely one of those things.’