Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is crumbling
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is crumbling
Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, is a Hollywood superstar. But there have been suggestions that he’s a diva on set.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is the epitome of Hollywood masculinity. His on-screen magnetism and talk show couch affability have endeared him to millions. Now though, the Rock seems to be crumbling.
The Rock, who has referred to himself as ‘the hardest worker in the room’, has developed a reputation in the industry for his lateness and lack of professionalism on set. In April, the Hollywood trade publication The Wrap published a exposé, one that cast The Rock in the most unflattering of lights. According to the piece, The Rock used to pee in a bottle during movie shoots, rather than use the restroom – you know, like a respectable, housetrained human being. There were also allegations that on one production, he added $50 million to the bill by failing to appear on set. One insider told the publication: ‘The only thing Dwayne was consistent at was being chronically late’. (Although, it should be said, that other sources in the piece said that he was no more than an hour late.)
A few weeks before The Wrap expose was published, The Rock was three hours late arriving ahead of his main event match at WrestleMania 40. For WWE World, a WWE fan event in Philadelphia leading up to WrestleMania 40, Johnson showed up two hours late, drawing boos from the crowd and criticism from the local Philadelphia press. The Guardian’s Marina Hyde said in a recent edition of her podcast The Rest is Entertainment that she’d spoken to those who’d worked with Johnson who said, in no uncertain terms, that he’s ‘a diva’.
To compound matters, Matt Belloni, a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, has accused Johnson of manipulating box office statistics and feeding false narratives to the media in an attempt to bolster his films’ reception. Last month, reports surfaced detailing a purported clash between The Rock and Ryan Reynolds, arguably the most affable actor in Hollywood, on the set of the Netflix’s Red Notice. Sources suggest that tensions ran high as the two Hollywood heavyweights allegedly engaged in an on-set altercation, raising concerns about their ability to collaborate effectively.
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Johnson first forged his identity in the testosterone-fuelled world of professional wrestling, where his character captivated audiences and earned him legions of fans. In blockbuster films, he often plays characters who mirror his wrestling alter ego – men of action, moral righteousness, and almost superhuman strength. Whether he’s saving the world from imminent doom or dispatching bad guys with a single punch, The Rock’s characters are really just an extension of this persona. But The Rock was never real. He was a construct, a figment of the WWE’s imagination, designed to entertain and inspire. When Hollywood came calling, Dwayne Johnson faded into the background, and The Rock – this meticulously crafted fabrication – took centre stage. In many ways, The Rock epitomises Hollywood itself – a land of make-believe. Marlon Brando famously said that the vast majority of ‘successful people in Hollywood are failures as human beings’. One wonders what the great man would have made of The Rock.
Some of the more mundane things they mention, like exaggerating his height and being bombastic and over-the-top are just holdovers from wrestling. Having an argument with Ryan Reynolds on set and being habitually late seems very unwise, especially if your films are no longer big box office draws.
62There is a bit of advise for actors/actresses from a director (forgot their name) where they said “if the only thing about you is that you are on time/early, and you are pleasant to work with, you will always find a job in acting. If you don’t care and lack punctuality, and are hard to work with or around (if necessary) then you will find fewer and fewer opportunities as time goes on.”
56My Uncle told me when I was a kid that 70% of success is just showing up, and being on time. As an adult myself now, I agree with him.
9Availability is the best ability.
6
I've never seen a more useless waste of news space.
44This is long form celebrity gossip.
24so like sports news but with different types of violence
3Granted this is the movies community, but still
2
Have a friend who is a production assistant at Kualoa Ranch where they shot the Jumanji movies and had stories that this article basically confirms.
Dwayne was chronically late most of the time, holding up shoots while he did his thing. His handler would just pass it off as " he's a hardworking dude so his schedule is super tight"
43I work in film and can also confirm the on set piss bottles.
11
Turns out Vin Diesel was the better between the two in their feud.
27Well, I might not go that far. Other sources from the FF set suggest (checks ironimeter) that VD was late to set, as well as arrogant. And The Rock?
As for The Rock, the crew apparently love the guy and consider him the “ultimate professional,” as he was always on-time and frequently nailed his scenes.
Perhaps being late to set is a weapon "insiders" deploy as character assassination or perhaps some actors reach a point (round about when they start getting producer credits perhaps? Possibly where they reach the point in their career where everyone tells them they crap gold) where unprofessionalism kicks in.
Similar criticism was levelled at Tom Hardy on Fury Road (being late where Charlize Theron was always first in) and he has held his hands up to it.
36ESH
1
only an hour late
Oh, he only caused an entire production crew to sit around for an entire hour rolling their eyes and checking their watches.
25I think the "only" is because someone claimed that he cost them $50 million by doing that
7While 50 million is high, costs mount extremely quickly if things fall off schedule. Especially, if you have to start adding extra filming days, or paying for an entire crew spend time in remote areas.
2
Sources suggest that tensions ran high as the two Hollywood heavyweights allegedly engaged in an on-set altercation, raising concerns about their ability to collaborate effectively.
Probably couldn't agree on gin or tequila as the product placement.
22That's a hill they were both prepared to die on. Dan Ackroyd wanted to get involved too.
14
Couldn't really say whether this is true or not, but it also feels like a hit piece.
17The fabrication part is definitely real. He has an extensive list of rules that his roles have to follow. E.g. his character can not die, can't be a villain, and may only be punched twice or things like that.
6
Epitome of masculinity...
It both made me stop reading the article and it made me start thinking. But not enough to wanting to start a discussion about why he is/ has been so successful as an actor - it's more about the people who like what he depicts than the man himself I guess.
14He kind of is...
He does always publicly come across as a very friendly, intelligent, open person. He is in amazing shape (Yes, anyone with half a brain knows that theres some 1% genetics and almost certainly PEDs) but a lot of hard work too. Never seems to be short on charisma and is a great speaker. I mean... who wouldnt want all of that and his bank account?
But this is all his public persona, maybe 30 years of it is catching up to him, maybe he has always been a bit of an asshole behind closed doors and it just never got out. Maybe the dude is just tired and needs to take his foot off the gas.
17I mean, it says "epitome of Hollywood masculinity", obviously meaning that he's the epitome of the action movie stereotype.
5
he often plays characters who mirror his wrestling alter ego – men of action, moral righteousness, and almost superhuman strength.
My memory could fail me, but wasn't he a heel in his beginnings on WWE?
13He started out as a face with a dull gimmick, turned heel for a bit quite quickly, then face for his famous run, then heel when he left for tinsel town, then back to face for his reappearances before his most recent heel turn.
16
If being late to work and peeing in a bottle is "crumbling," I'd say the title of this article is blowing things out of proportion.
11If you being late to work meant that dozens of other people had to work overtime, I'd say you deserve to be called out for it.
Also, he's not exactly picking his piss bottles up after himself. Other people have to clean those up.
2
The Wrap article they are referencing: https://archive.is/UmNPh
On the set of “Red One,” Johnson’s pattern of lateness proved more damaging. Johnson was late an average of seven to eight hours per day and missed several entire days of production, ballooning costs by at least $50 million according to three insiders who insisted on anonymity for fear of being fired.
I can not imagine any other jobs in any industry where this behavior would be acceptable. At the end of the day, people want to get their work done and go home, and wasting the time and work of hundreds of people on set is regularly is unprofessional and irresponsible.
“On set, away from his trailer, if he needs to pee, he doesn’t go to the public bathroom,” one insider who knows the movie star well said. “He pees in a Voss water bottle and his team or a PA has to dispose of it.”
OK that's just gross.
8What the article doesn't say is whether he maintains eye contact with his PA while pissing in the bottle , but we all know the answer.
8I'm more worried about who's holding the bottle really
3
The Rubble
5