Credit: DC StudiosAfter learning that a former co-star was verbally abused on-set, WWE Superstar and star of Jungle Cruise (2021) Dwayne Johnson leapt to her defense.
While promoting Dune: Part Two (2024) on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, actor Rebecca Ferguson spoke about playing Timothée Chalamet’s mother, fangirling over Christopher Walken, and her work with Tom Cruise. However, the moment that has caught most fans’ attention is her story about being verbally abused on an undisclosed film set.
“I did a film with an absolute idiot of a co-star… I remember there was a moment when this human being was being so insecure and angry because this person couldn’t get the scenes out. And I think I was so vulnerable and uncomfortable that I got screamed at. But because this person was number one on a call sheet, there was no safety net for me. So no one had my back. I would cry walking off set.”
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The actor proceeded to berate her, saying things like, “You call yourself an actor?” and “This is what I have to work with?” However, all of that changed the next day.
“And I remember the next day I walked on, and I said, ‘You get off my set.’ This is the first time I’d ever spoken. I had been so scared, and I looked at this person, and I said, ‘You can F off. I’m going to act towards a tennis ball, I never want to see you again.”
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When producers said he couldn’t be taken off-set, Ferguson simply replied, “Then the person can turn around, and I can act to the back head. And I did.”
Naturally, fans across the internet supported the Dune (2021) star, happy she took a stand and agreeing that no one should ever have to do that anywhere. This included her former Hercules (2014) co-star and San Andreas (2015) lead Dwayne Johnson, who wants to find this person personally.
Dwayne Johnson Stands Up For His “Guardian Angel”
While many people have spoken out in support of Ferguson, no one garnered more attention than Luke Hobbes from Fast Five (2011) and Fast X (2023), who immediately called out whoever berated her on X (formerly Twitter).
“Hate seeing this but love seeing her stand up to bulls***. Rebecca was my guardian angel sent from heaven on our set. I love that woman. I’d like to find out who did this.”
Needless to say, if you’re about to go into a feud with someone, having a former WWE Champion who has defeated the likes of John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and CM Punk.
Hmmmmmmm pic.twitter.com/cH1Uap82wH
— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) February 28, 2024
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Much of the internet agreed with this sentiment. Ferguson had already ruled out Hugh Jackman and Tom Cruise, who she starred with in The Greatest Showman (2017) and the Mission Impossible movies, respectively.
According to renowned Hollywood scooper Daniel Richtman, it is likely that Ferguson’s co-star was Hugh Grant, who she played opposite in Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), noting that he could have moved higher up the call sheet if star Meryl Streep wasn’t on-set that day. Grant also has a history of yelling at co-stars, which he admitted to on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023). However, there is no proof, so it would be wrong to completely jump to conclusions.
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