These are two men that carried on Hollywood’s tradition of bald, bulked-up action heroes. Of course, we are talking about Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, the iconic action stars. This legendary combination has been tasked with carrying the weight of the blockbuster Fast & Furious franchise, and their relationship has been vital in propelling the franchise forward. However, the confrontation of two big personalities has a very familiar feel to it. We have seen this happen before with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, and it appears that history is repeating itself once more.
The Rock and Vin Diesel’s enmity has been well-publicized in recent years, and it appears that there is not enough screen room for two colossal egos to share! In this video, we take you through the choppy waters of the two megastars’ deteriorating relationship, and how things are only becoming uglier with time!
Where it all started
Let’s take a walk down memory lane to the year 2011. This was when Fast Five was released, and the fifth film in the franchise became a smashing hit. It made the franchise rank right up there amongst the most popular ones ever made, and this film also marked the entry of former WWE star, Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock.
His addition to the cast was like adding fuel to a raging fireball because there were already legends like Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in the mix of things. Vin Diesel, in fact, has been there right from the beginning, and the onscreen dynamic between these prolific actors made this franchise grander than ever! Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7 continued with success, and even though the franchise was struck by a terrible tragedy in the form of Paul Walker’s death, the others pushed the legacy ahead.
The Fate of the Furious was released in 2017, but right after the filming was wrapped up, The Rock made the headlines with some of his Instagram posts. He was quick to take the posts down, but it was enough for the news-hounds to get a whiff of the rift cooking between the stars. In this post, Dwayne Johnson praised various members of the cast, but he also made it clear that he wasn’t particularly happy with some of them.
In fact, he clearly mentioned that some of his male co-stars were not exactly true professionals, and he used the choicest of words to make his displeasure evident. The bombshell was hidden in his statement when he said that in some of the scenes in the movie it looks like he is seething with rage because he actually is!
The gossip-mongers soon added the loose ends of the story and inferred that the man being targeted by the Rock was none other than Vin Diesel. It was reported that there were some major tensions between the two during the shooting of this film, and their brotherhood was now a thing of the past.
The Rock tried to make amends with another Instagram post suggesting that his previous frustrations were only natural because the whole group is like a well-knit family. He claimed that just like in a family, fights are normal and they get sorted out as well. While this seemed to calm things down temporarily, it was only the beginning of the rough weather that was about to torment the bonhomie between these megastars.
The feud keeps getting dragged
As you can imagine, such rumors do not die down easily. The press was all over the place hunting for clues to stitch together the story of the rift between the two stars, and they kept getting hints from random places. Vin Diesel himself shared a rather cryptic Instagram post, where he promised to tell fans everything very soon. Later, their co-star Michelle Rodriquez revealed that things were indeed not peace between the two megastars.
However, she was also hopeful that they were too fond of each other to let such petty issues mess up their relationship. But things looked far from being okay. When Dwayne Johnson made another Instagram post thanking the entire cast of the movie, he skipped tagging Vin Diesel, and this confirmed that something was still wrong between the two.
Vin Diesel tried to do some damage control
Just before The Fate of the Furious was about to be released, Vin Diesel tried to control the damage by appearing for an interview with USA Today. His words were rather generous, and he addressed Dwayne Johnson as his little brother. He claimed to be the guardian and protector of the Fast & Furious franchise, and be assured that the Rock would always have him looking out for him.
Now, this might seem like a sweet gesture, unless you pay attention to the veiled attempt at establishing his superiority. Addressing one of the biggest Hollywood stars as his little brother certainly establishes his alpha position, and this innocuous statement might not have pleased the Rock! However, things seemed to have eased down a bit following this interview. The two even appeared together on the red carpet for the premiere of the movie, and Dwayne Johnson claimed that the only differences that ever came up between them were because of basic philosophical differences.
Tyrese Gibson ripping open the old wounds
Things seemed to have calmed down between the two megastars, but their Fast & Furious costar stirred things up in a scathing Instagram post. It all happened after F9: The Fast Saga was delayed, and fans started speculating that the delay was because of the focus on the spinoff movie titled Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which starred the Rock alongside Jason Statham.
Tyrese Gibson did not take to these delays kindly, and he lashed out at Dwayne Johnson, accusing him of making the franchise all about himself. He went on to trash his performance in Baywatch, and this explicit post made it clear that Tyrese was supporting Vin Diesel in his rift with the Rock.
Vin Diesel was quick to jump in and solve things amicably, but blood had already been spilled and there was no turning back from the harsh words that had been said. He was quick to suggest that the franchise was in need of some maintenance work, hence the delay. But it was understandable that he would try to bring some peace because Vin Diesel is one of the lead producers in the franchise. He wouldn’t want Hobbs & Shaw to suffer the wrath of the fans, and his full support might have had more to do with business than anything else.
The Rolling Stone interview kept things rolling!
It was a year after the movie had been released, and Dwayne Johnson appeared for an interview with Rolling Stone. He was directly asked if he had filmed any scene together with Vin Diesel, and he admitted that their scenes were arranged differently. Was the fight so bad that they couldn’t even shoot together? Now, the fans were certain that something was off between the two stars. Even the polite explanations about tame stuff like philosophical differences did not soothe the fans.
Recently, in October 2021, the Rock revealed that it was one of his prior conditions before he signed the movie. He was clear that he did not want any more drama, and he believed that shooting separately was the best way to go about it. This was a clear confirmation of the tensions between the two on the sets. Later, when he didn’t star in F9: The Fast Saga, the excuses of scheduling conflicts with Hobbs & Shaw did not seem concrete. It was rather obvious that the two stars were trying to avoid working together!
Vin Diesel’s Explanation
It was believed by most of the fans that Dwayne Johnson would be back for Final Destination 10. Vin Diesel himself went on an interview and tried to justify their feud by suggesting that his way of tough love is often perceived the wrong way. He also added that such differences were only supposed to strengthen their performances in the movies.
However, that does not appear to have brokered peace between the two. Very recently, Dwayne Johnson has openly stated that he wouldn’t be going back to the franchise again. In fact, he seemed quite surprised about the posts by Vin Diesel suggesting his presence because he had apparently mentioned to him personally that he was done with the series!
This came as a shocker because Vin Diesel had penned down an emotional post asking Dwayne to come back to the franchise. He suggested that this was a promise made to Paul Walker, and he believed that the character of Hobbs played by Dwayne Johnson could be played by no one else.
The Rock simply requested Vin Diesel not to bring up Paul Walker in such negotiations, and he slammed the possibilities shut by saying that he will never work in Fast & Furious movies again. Vin Diesel had revealed about the close relations between his children, and the Rock was not appreciative of such statements as well.
Is the whole thing staged
After the news of the feed between the two action stars spread like wildfire, Dwayne Johnson went on record to suggest that it actually helped in the publicity of their upcoming movie. It has to be remembered that the Rock comes from a background in WWE, where staged fights are the backbone of entertainment. There may have been some actual tension between the two, but they might have dissolved the issues long before! As of now, it might simply be a way of keeping the fans guessing.
It is tried and tested that such feuds have their way of benefitting the people involved. The next time the two come together for a project, the public interest will be at its peak because everyone has been talking about how these two men hate each other! In fact, for the sake of their amazing chemistry, we dearly hope that the whole thing is staged, and no love is lost between the two! Any true action fan will want Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson to pair up again and again, and it would be a terrible tragedy if some petty fight got between these projects!
Should fans be hopeful? Well, there is nothing to offer hope, but there is always the one-off chance that the stars might surprise everyone with sudden changes. We have seen such things go off pretty often in Hollywood, and we hope that this is just one of those occasions!