Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, probably more than any other current movie star, likes to use Instagram for updates on his movies. Sometimes he announces new ones, sometimes he talks them up, and other times he shares photos and videos from the set of whatever blockbuster he’s working on at the time. In recent months, Johnson has used his Instagram to promote Baywatch, and is currently using it to create buzz for Fast & Furious 8/Fast 8.
Earlier week, Johnson’s social media updates took an unexpected turn, with a shot at some of his (unnamed) male co-stars. The comments, coming during Johnson’s final week on the set on the film, called out some of his fellow actors who are, Johnson said, “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,” the actor wrote. He even used the occasion to bring back one of his favored insults from his pro wrestling days: “Candy asses.” The Rock, though, did state that the on-set frustration has the potential to lead to a better performance on his part.
Now, having wrapped up his work on the film, Johnson has posted another, much more conciliatory Instagram post, including a video in which he appears with, and praises, stunt coordinator JJ Perry and the movie’s large stunt team:
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There’s also a statement that appears to clarify the earlier comments:
"You guys reading this know how much I believe in the idea of TEAM EFFORT. That means respecting every person, their time and their value when they step on to my set or partner with our production company. And like with any team - that's a family - there's gonna be conflict. Family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs. To me, conflict can be a good thing, when its followed by great resolution. I was raised on healthy conflict and welcome it. And like any family, we get better from it. At the end of the day me and #F8 co-stars all agree on the most important thing: Delivering an incredible movie to the world."
The incident is somewhat curious, as Johnson, throughout his career, has never been known for feuding with co-stars, nor have there ever been reports of significant on-set discord during any previous Fast & Furious film. There doesn’t appear to be any clue as to which co-star(s), exactly, Johnson was calling out. Considering the series’ large male cast though, we can narrow it down to Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Kurt Russell, Jason Statham, Scott Eastwood and/or Lucas Black.
Will this controversy affect the movie and is reception? Probably not — the Fast & Furious movies are incredibly popular and history is full of examples of successful movies coming out of on-set rancor. But on the other hand, will the media spend a whole lot of time in the next eight months trying to get to the bottom of who The Rock was feuding with and why? Absolutely.
NEXT: Fast 8 Photo Features Helen Mirren On Set
Fast 8 opens in U.S. theaters on April 17th, 2017, followed by Fast and Furious 9 on April 19th, 2019, and Fast and Furious 10 on April 2nd, 2021.
Source: Dwayne Johnson