Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Opens Up On His Beef With Vin Diesel

During an interview with Vanity Fair, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson discussed his beef with fellow actor Vin Diesel and the social media post he published a while back, which read:

“My female co-stars are always amazing and I love ’em. My male co-stars however are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken sh*t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling—you’re right. #ZeroToleranceForCandyAsses.”

“Nothing specific happened, just the same old sh*t. And that just wasn’t my best day [because I] chose to share it. It caused a firestorm. Yet interestingly enough… [it was] as if every single crew member found their way to me and either quietly thanked me or sent me a note. But, yeah, it wasn’t my best day, sharing that. I shouldn’t have shared that. Because at the end of the day, that goes against my DNA. I don’t share things like that. And I take care of that kind of bullsh*t away from the public. They don’t need to know that. That’s why I say it wasn’t my best day.”

On agreeing to disagree with Vin Diesel:

“Well, there was a meeting (laughs). I wouldn’t call it a peaceful meeting. I would call it a meeting of clarity. He and I had a good chat in my trailer, and it was out of that chat that it really became just crystal clear that we are two separate ends of the spectrum. And agreed to leave it there. [We are] philosophically two different people, and we approach the business of moviemaking in two very different ways.

“It’s the philosophy of going into work every day. Looking at everybody as equal partners. And looking at the studio as equal partners. And looking at the crew, regardless of where you’re at, either on the call sheet or otherwise, as equal partners—with respect and with humility, and being respectful of the process and every other human being who is putting in just as much time, just as much hard work and sweat equity, if not more. And I think it’s always been important to me to always be straight up and look somebody in the eye. And if you say you’re going to do something, do it.”

He added:

“My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be. 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. 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 Fellini-esque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing.”

He concluded:

“You know, I’ll tell you this, one part of me feels like there’s no way I would dignify any of that bullsh*t with an answer. But here’s the truth. I’ve been around the block a lot of times. Unlike him, I did not come from the world of theatre. And, you know, I came up differently and was raised differently. And I came from a completely different culture and environment. And I go into every project giving it my all. And if I feel that there’s some things that need to be squared away and handled and taken care of, then I do it. And it’s just that simple. So when I read that, just like everybody else, I laughed. I laughed hard. We all laughed. And somewhere I’m sure Fellini is laughing too.”