Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel pose for photographers during the premiere of the movie Fast and Furious 5 at Cinepolis Lagoon on April 15, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo / AP
Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel pose for photographers during the premiere of the movie Fast and Furious 5 at Cinepolis Lagoon on April 15, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo / AP
Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson "laughed hard" after Vin Diesel claimed to have given him "tough love" to improve his performance in the Fast & Furious franchise.
Diesel, 53, recently insisted reports of a feud between him and the Rock, 49, came about because he pushed his co-star "to assist ingetting that performance where it needed to be" but Johnson has ridiculed his claims.
Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel pose for photographers during the premiere of the movie Fast and Furious 5 at Cinepolis Lagoon on April 15, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo / AP
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter about his reaction to the comments, Johnson said: "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."
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."
