Dwayne Johnson doesn’t often mince words when it comes to on-set behavior. Back in 2021, he told Vanity Fair about behind-the-scenes turmoil with Vin Diesel on various Fast and the Furious films and earlier this year Johnson confirmed he’s not the “idiot” who screamed at Rebecca Ferguson on a film.
Now, the 52-year-old star is clearing up rumors about his decorum on the set of Red One, an upcoming Christmas adventure-thriller featuring Chris Evans and J.K. Simmons as Santa. In April, The Wrap reported that Johnson’s frequent tardiness and odd behavior, including his habit of peeing in water bottles to save time during shooting, had helped balloon the film’s budget to a staggering $250 million.
Johnson called the controversy “bullshit,” in a new GQ cover story, but didn’t deny that the film’s cost increased. “Yeah, that happens too,” he said. “But not that amount, by the way. That was a bananas amount. That’s crazy. Ridiculous.”
As for those whispers about urination? “Yeah,” Johnson told GQ about peeing into water bottles to save time on a film set. “That happens…I’ve said a thousand times: ‘Hey, I’m here. Come and ask me. And I’ll tell you the truth.’”
The piece also includes character witness statements from his Red One collaborators. “[Dwayne] never missed a day of work ever,” said director Jake Kasdan. “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.”
Evans also sprang to Johnson’s defense. “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?” Evans said. “I found Dwayne to be—we all know exactly what he’s going to do when he’s going to do it.”
As Evans explained, Johnson typically does a daily workout in the mornings before arriving to set. “It’s not like he’s late unexpectedly, and I wouldn’t even call it late,” he said. “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.”
As a testament to Johnson’s goodwill with the Red One cast and crew, Evans also mentioned the time that his co-star made a sizable donation to the production’s Five-Dollar Fridays raffle. “The pot was up to four or five grand or something,” Evans said, “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.’” Before anyone knew it, according to Evans, Johnson was adding thousands to the prize pot. “‘How about 30 this time?’ Everyone goes nuts. And then he says, ‘You know what? How about one more?’ And it was 50,” Evans recalled. “I think on one Friday, Dwayne gave away something like close to a hundred thousand dollars.”
Consider Johnson’s place on the nice-list preserved, at least by some of his Red One co-workers.
