Dwayne Johnson’s Response to Vin Diesel Saying He Improved the Actor’s ‘Fast’ Performances? Laughter

Chris Lindahl
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The long-running feud between “Fast and Furious” co-stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wages on. The latest episode comes after Diesel, a producer on the franchise, took credit for Johnson’s performance because of his “tough love” approach during production of “Fast Five,” Johnson’s first appearance as Luke Hobbs. In a Hollywood Reporter cover story released Wednesday, Johnson responded by laughing it off.

“I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on ‘Fast 9.’ And I wish them the best of luck on ‘Fast 10’ and ‘Fast 11’ and the rest of the ‘Fast & Furious’ movies they do that will be without me,” Johnson said.

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Johnson was interviewed by THR to promote his upcoming movie “Jungle Cruise.”

Johnson’s first appearance in the franchise was in 2011; “Fast Five” marked Diesel’s fourth appearance in the series and marked his second “Fast” film in which he served as a producer. Diesel in a recent Men’s Health profile said that many of the reports of his feud with Johnson stem from the coaching he gave Johnson in “Fast Five.”

“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 Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing,” Diesel said in the profile.

Diesel’s invocation of the Italian auteur known for his demanding directing style seemed to amuse Johnson — and his “Jungle Cruise” co-star Emily Blunt — during their THR interview.

“Just thank God he was there,” she said of Diesel. “Thank God. He carried you through that.”

“Felliniesque,” Johnson said.

Johnson reprised his role of Hobbs in “Fast & Furious 6,” “Furious 7,” and “The Fate of the Furious,” before leaving the main franchise for the “Hobbs & Shaw” spinoff in 2019.

Two more films are planned in the main franchise, and Johnson suggested he won’t be a part of them. However, one of the franchise’s producers recently suggested that there could be “Hobbs & Shaw” sequels down the road.

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