One of the biggest beefs in Hollywood briefly returned to the spotlight at Sunday’s Golden Globes.
While presenting at the ceremony, Vin Diesel looked out into the audience and said “Hey, Dwayne” as the camera cut to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who appeared to be awkwardly smiling at the greeting.
Some in the audience laughed, perhaps remembering that the former “Fast & Furious” costars haven’t exactly been the best of friends.
In 2016, Johnson posted a photo on his verified Instagram account, which he has since removed, in which he talked about filming “The Fate of the Furious.”
“Some (male co-stars) conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t,” Johnson wrote at the time, leading to speculation he was talking about Diesel.
Johnson also posted a clip from filming on Instagram and wrote, “You guys reading this know how much I believe in the idea of TEAM EFFORT. That means respecting every person, their time and their value when they step on to my set or partner with our production company. And like with any team – that’s a family – there’s gonna be conflict.”
“Family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs,” Johnson continued. “To me, conflict can be a good thing, when its followed by great resolution.”
In a 2021 interview with Men’s Health, Diesel offered up his explanation as to why he and Johnson had a falling out.
According to Diesel, as a producer for the franchise, he had to take a hard stance with Johnson, who played Luke Hobbs.
“It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character,” Diesel told the publication. “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.”
Johnson didn’t appear to completely appreciate the approach.
“What I came to realize is that we have a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating,” Johnson said of Diesel in a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone. “It took me some time, but I’m grateful for that clarity. Whether we work together again or not.”
In a 2021 Vanity Fair story, Johnson pushed back on Diesel’s comments about trying to assist his acting.
“I’ve been around the block a lot of times. Unlike him, I did not come from the world of theater,” he said.
“You know, I came up differently and was raised differently. And I came from a completely different culture and environment,” Johnson continued. “I go into every project giving it my all. And if I feel that there’s some things that need to be squared away and handled and taken care of, then I do it. And it’s just that simple.”
Johnson went on to star in the 2019 spin off “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” but did not appear in the 2021 film “F9.”
He and Diesel have not worked together since.
