Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson addresses rumors he was chronically late to set, allegedly cost production millions
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has addressed rumors that rocked headlines earlier this year surrounding his professionalism on movie sets.
During a profile with GQ Magazine, Johnson referred back to The Wrap's article about his upcoming film "Red One." In the original piece that was published in April, the outlet alleged that Johnson was "chronically late" on set, which cost the production "millions" of dollars.
Speaking of his tardiness, Johnson said, "Yeah, that happens," before slamming the amount The Wrap reported. "But not that amount, by the way. That was a bananas amount. That’s crazy. Ridiculous," he told GQ.
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Johnson's representative did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
"Red One" director Jake Kasdan told GQ that Johnson "never missed a day of work ever. He has a lot going on. He can be late sometimes, but such is Hollywood—that’s the case with everybody. Honestly, I’ve made three big movies with him. I’ve never seen him be anything but great to every single person on the set."
Chris Evans, Johnson's co-star, also came to his defense, saying that he had a different experience working with the star than the rumors that have circulated suggest.
"In terms of the guy that I saw, compared to some of the things I’ve seen on other movies with other actors who are not only not conscious of other people’s time and efforts, but they’re unpredictable? I found Dwayne to be—we all know exactly what he’s going to do when he’s going to do it," Evans said.
Evans noted that Johnson was consistently doing a morning workout before arriving on set.
"But this is something that the producers, the director, and it’s all his team, so they all know this. So it’s all basic. It’s not like he’s late unexpectedly, and I wouldn’t even call it late. He comes in slightly later on certain mornings, but it’s part of the plan. It’s worked into the schedules and everyone knows it, so he shows up when he’s scheduled to show up," Evans said.
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The Wrap also reported in the spring that Johnson would "pee in a bottle" while working on set, which the star admitted to.
"Yeah. That happens," he told GQ.
Johnson told the outlet that he is very direct and will address things he needs to be held "accountable" for.
"I’ve said a thousand times: ‘Hey, I’m here. Come and ask me. And I’ll tell you the truth,'" he said.
"Red One" is a holiday film in which Johnson plays Santa Claus' bodyguard, Callum Drift, who joins Evans' bounty hunter character to track him down after he was kidnapped.
Aside from Johnson and Evans, the film also stars Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons.
Evans told GQ a story of their time on set of "Red One" when Johnson participated in what they called "Five-Dollar Fridays." The outlet explained that the cast and crew of film productions would buy raffle tickets, and once the day wrapped, they would pull a name out.
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"I mean Dwayne did it all the time," Evans said, "but there was one day, and I’m really not exaggerating about this. I forget what the number was. The pot was up to four or five grand or something, and before they pulled the name out, Dwayne said, ‘What’s the pot at right now?’ And someone said, ‘I don’t know, four grand.’ And he said, ‘Let’s call it 20.’ And they pulled out a name and whoever won was losing it.
"Dwayne said, ‘You know what? Should we do it again? How about 30 this time?’ Everyone goes nuts. And then he says, ‘You know what? How about one more?’ And it was 50. I think on one Friday, Dwayne gave away something like close to a hundred thousand dollars," he concluded.
"Red One" debuts in theaters on Nov. 15.