Dwayne Johnson Doesn’t Regret Calling ‘Fast 8’ Co-Star Vin Diesel a ‘Candy Ass’
Dwayne Johnson is a big man in every sense of the word. Physically, he’s a small planet, giving the moon a run for its money as the most important celestial body to be caught in Earth’s gravity. His personality and spirit, though, are even bigger. You hardly ever hear stories about Johnson losing his cool or brushing off a fan, choosing instead to spend every waking minute of every waking day reminding us that movie stars do still exist in 2016.
That’s what made his social media tirade on the set of Fast 8 such an internet phenomenon. When Johnson called out several anonymous actors on the set of the film — cough cough Vin Diesel cough cough — people ate it up, marveling at what finally made a person as magnanimous as Johnson very publicly lose his cool. And to his credit, Johnson owns up and regrets none of it, telling the Los Angeles Times (via Vulture) that he meant what he said and he said what he meant.
I was very clear with what I said. I’ve been in the game a long time. Would Universal [Pictures] have preferred that didn’t happen? Sure, we talked about it. The irony is after that and as they do their tracking and all their analysis, the interest shot through the roof to a whole other level.
That last point is pretty key. You don’t get to be the highest paid actor in the world by making poor business decisions, and even while Johnson was losing his cool, he had to know that the buzz around his behind-the-scenes tiff with Diesel would only heighten people’s anticipation for Fast 8. Which is not to say that Johnson’s comments were only a publicity stunt; rather, it’s acknowledging that even when Johnson loses his temper, he still manages to raise the bottom line. That’s just the kind of talent he is.
Since the only resolution to this feud that would make audiences truly satisfied would be a live-action wrestling match between the two actors, odds are good that we’ll never get the closure we needed from Johnson’s comments. For now, though, we can each console ourselves by choosing a side in the fight — I’m still Team Diesel, I know, I’m sorry — and enjoying Fast 8 when it roars into theaters on April 14, 2017.