#Vin Diesel Reveals Motivation Behind Fast & Furious Feud with The Rock

The Fast & Furious feud between Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson may be over. However, we are still learning more about what went down behind the scenes that led to the squabble in the first place. In this case, Diesel has revealed some of the “tough love” he used on Johnson to help get the right performance out of him in Fast Five.

Vin Diesel is currently making the rounds to promote the release of F9, aka Fast & Furious 9, which hits theaters in the U.S. this weekend. It has already been making a killing overseas. During a recent interview, Diesel explained that, as a producer, he felt the need to push Dwayne Johnson while filming Fast Five, which served as the debut of his character, Luke Hobbs. Here’s what Diesel had to say about it.
RELATED: Cardi B Will Return for Fast & Furious 10

“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. That’s something that I’m proud of, that aesthetic. That took a lot of work. We had to get there and sometimes, at that time, I could give a lot of tough love. Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing.”

Fast Five was the true turning point for the franchise. The introduction of The Rock, coupled with the series shifting gears into a true global action/adventure, catapulted it to new heights. But it wasn’t all fine and dandy behind the curtain. As we would come to find during production On The Fate of the Furious, Dwayne Johnson had beef with some of his male co-stars, namely Vin Diesel.

As filming on the eighth entry in the Fast and Furious series was coming to a close, The Rock took to social media to air out some of his co-stars. While he didn’t name names, he called some of his male co-stars “candy asses.” It eventually came to be understood that he and Vin Diesel were not getting along. Based on Diesel’s comments here, it’s not too hard to see where this feud may have come from.

But the two have since settled their differences and things are going well for the franchise. Hobbs & Shaw, the first spin-off in the series led by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, was a huge hit. A sequel is currently in development. While Johnson won’t be in F9, the door is open for him to return in Fast & Furious 10 and/or Fast & Furious 11, which will end the main franchise. Aside from that, The Rock remains one of the busiest people in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Vin Diesel is getting ready to help conclude the long-running saga with an epic two-parter that will be shot back-to-back. F9 arrives in theaters this weekend. This news comes to us via Men’s Health.

Topics: Fast and Furious, Fast and Furious 9