It’s no secret that The Rock and Vin Diesel do not like each other. It pretty much stems from the fact that Dwayne Johnson’s character Hobbs became much bigger and more popular than Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise, which Diesel’s ego couldn’t handle.
Last month Vin Diesel put up this desperate and very public plea to The Rock to return for the final Fast & Furious film. It was very weird and a bit passive aggressive…
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Absolutely outrageous move by Vin Diesel to refer to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as his little brother when The Rock is taller, heavier, stronger and an infinitely bigger movie star than him. He even purposely posted a picture that somehow makes him look bigger than The Rock! Bit of a weird way to go about things when asking the guy for a favour. Was he trying to make him mad or what?
Worse still, Diesel then brings his kids and the late Paul Walker into it, which I guess was a way to make The Rock feel like an a*sehole if he didn’t accept Diesel’s offer. Did it work? Hell no. The Rock has finally responded with the following (via Page Six):
I was very surprised by Vin’s recent post. This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly — and privately — that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return. I privately spoke with my partners at Universal as well, all of whom were very supportive as they understand the problem.
Vin’s recent public post was an example of his manipulation. I didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding. My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible Fast & Furious franchise with gratitude and grace.
So yeah, unsurprisingly The Rock isn’t that easy to manipulate, and now Vin Diesel looks even more daft than he did at the beginning of all this by falling out with the most likable guy in Hollywood. I mean you never hear a bad word said about Dwayne Johnson ever, do you? He’s like the friendliest, most lovable guy in the world. But yet somehow Vin Diesel managed to annoy him so much that he had to come out and publicly rinse him.
Besides, why would The Rock want to return to the franchise at this stage of his career? He’s already the biggest and highest-paid actor in the world (or up there anyway). His Hobbs & Shaw spinoff was a massive success in its own right and he’s been busy making blockbuster crap like Jungle Cruise while also involved in more legit projects like Black Adam. All while making serious bank outside of the movie game, like with his Zoa Energy drink (which is apparently terrible, but that’s neither here nor there).
Obviously it would be pretty cool if The Rock got on board for the finale for one last big battle alongside the biggest stars of the franchise. He could literally name his price at this point. It’s just a bit irksome the way Vin Diesel went about trying to convince him. Fair play to Th Rock for setting the record straight.
