Well, this is sure to stir up some discussion!
Back when The Fate of the Furious was filming, word got out that stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson weren't getting along very well, and this was seemingly confirmed when they pair began to take vague (and sometimes not so vague) shots at each other during interviews and on social media.
At the time, most assumed it was down to two "alpha-male" egos being forced to share the spotlight, but Diesel is now claiming that the animosity stemmed from him leaning on his producer role in an attemp to get a better performance out of his costar.
“My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be," Diesel explained during an interview with Men's Health. "As a producer to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to take Dwayne Johnson, who’s associated with wrestling, and we’re going to force this cinematic world, audience members, to regard his character as someone that they don’t know.'”
"Hobbs hits you like a ton of bricks," he continued. "That’s something that I’m proud of, that aesthetic. That took a lot of work. We had to get there and sometimes, at that time, I could give a lot of tough love. Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing.”
Johnson didn't return for the latest installment in the franchise, F9, but he did appear to put his beef with Diesel to rest in an Instagram post shortly after the release of Hobbs and Shaw in 2019. With two Fast and Furious movies still to come, there's always a chance the Black Adam actor could reprise the role of Hobbs down the line... though something tells us Diesel's comments might just reignite this feud!
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.