Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson responded to reports on his alleged on-set behavior during the filming of Red One.
The newly-released Amazon MGM Studios festive flick sees Dwayne play Santa’s head of security. However, back in April, the Wrap published a story claiming that his frequent lateness on set resulted in $50 million needing to be added to the budget as the cast and crew would try to accommodate him.
It included the detail that the former wrestler would also pee into water bottles to save time — to the displeasure of the crew — a habit that he had previously admitted to doing at the gym.
In a new interview with GQ, Dwayne spoke about the Red One allegations — including the one where, in his words, “I pee in a bottle.” The actor added, “Yeah. That happens.”
Regarding the lateness allegations, he continued, “Yeah, that happens too…But not that amount, by the way. That was a bananas amount. That’s crazy. Ridiculous.” He further called the controversy “bullshit.”
The director of Red One, Jake Kasdan, further told GQ that The Rock “never missed a day of work ever.” Jake further explained, “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, who stars in the movie, too, also spoke to GQ and said, “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.”
Chris would further note that Dwayne would workout before shooting, adding, “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.”
You can read the full interview here.