Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that a story from earlier this year that alleged he is often extremely late to set and pees into bottles to save time is somewhat true.
Late in April 2024, a report stated that Johnson regularly showed up hours late to set, which resulted in the crew being forced to shoot around him on some days, and drove the budget of his new Christmas film Red One up to $250m. The story also stated that Johnson would urinate into a water bottle to save time, which upset several crew members.
“On set, away from his trailer, if he needs to pee, he doesn’t go to the public bathroom. He pees in a Voss water bottle and his team or a PA has to dispose of it,” an insider told The Wrap. The online trade publication also reported that Johnson “showed up as much as eight hours late to set”.
In a new interview, Johnson admitted that he is late on set, but that the report exaggerated his tardiness.
“Yeah, that happens,” Johnson told GQ magazine, adding that he felt the controversy over the report was “bulls***”.
“But not that amount, by the way. That was a bananas amount. That’s crazy. Ridiculous,” he said.
On whether he really did urinate into bottles to save time, he simply said: “Yeah. That happens.”
“I’ve said a thousand times: ‘Hey, I’m here. Come and ask me. And I’ll tell you the truth.’”
Helmed by Jumanji director Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan – who wrote several Fast & Furious films – the new action-comedy is about a kidnapped Santa Claus (JK Simmons) whose top operative (Johnson) must team up with an accomplished tracker (Chris Evans) to find him and save Christmas. Red One also features Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, and Kiernan Shipka.
Kasdan, however defended the Moana actor, saying: “[Dwayne] never missed a day of work ever. 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.”
Co-star Chris Evans echoed Kasdan’s words, saying: “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.”
The Captain America star said that Johnson often worked out in the mornings before he was meant to be on set, but that his habitual tardiness was worked into the schedule by the crew.
“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,” he said.
“It’s worked into the schedules and everyone knows it, so he shows up when he’s scheduled to show up.”
The film opened to brutal first reviews, with critics calling it “charmless” and “artificial”.
Red One is out now in UK cinemas and will be released in US theatres on 15 November.
