Diesel previously claimed that as a producer on the action series, he had a particular vision for the former wrestler's character Luke Hobbs and was keen for him to be taken seriously in the role.
He said: "It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character. 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 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."
And Johnson's Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt couldn't resist mocking Diesel's claims, saying: "Just thank God he was there. Thank God. He carried you through that."
Johnson quipped: "Felliniesque."