“I always wished for this,” he said. “But it’s almost turning into more of a nightmare than a dream.”

Eminem, the suburban Detroit musician who was born as Marshall Mathers III, faces gun charges in Royal Oak and Warren. He also faces a civil suit by a man who says Eminem attacked him while carrying a gun.

In February, Eminem won a Grammy in the best rap album category for his debut release, The Slim Shady LP, and another Grammy in the best rap solo performance category for the album’s hit single “My Name Is.”

Eminem’s new album, The Marshall Mathers LP, has gone platinum, with sales of 4 million in the five weeks since its May 23 release. It remains second this week on the R&B/Hip-Hop album chart.

Success is not all it’s cracked up to be, Eminem, 27, told the Detroit Free Press by phone from Los Angeles.

“You got to be careful what you wish for,” he said. “I miss going to the park and playing basketball. I was never that person who wanted the big cars and (Mercedes) Benzes. All I really wanted was to have a career in hip-hop.”

Last year, he bought a house in Sterling Heights, figuring his success had peaked.

“I didn’t know I would be as successful as I am now,” he said. “It was like, ‘I better grab this house now. I don’t know if any more money is coming.’ I bought the house, got it on the main road … just figuring I might get a couple of fans every once in a while. That was a big mistake.”

Eminem said he is miffed at Sterling Heights officials, who limited the height of a fence around his property to six feet. That is too low to keep intruders away, he said.

“I’ve got to have security guards sitting outside my house now because they won’t let me put a fence up. The other night somebody hit one of them in the head with a battery. … (People) coming to my house, knocking on the door. Either they want autographs or they want to fight. We’ve had people getting in our backyard and swimming in our pools.”

He insists that he misses being a “regular person,” a claim bolstered when he paused Wednesday’s interview to order a Burrito Supreme from an associate headed to Taco Bell.

“Not only did I never think I’d get this big, it’s like I’m still refusing to believe it,” he said. “I don’t like having security hold my hand to walk out to my mailbox.

“There’s something inside of me that refuses to believe I can’t walk down the street, or be as normal as I want to be.”