'Hobbs & Shaw': The Rock had to be 'CGI-ed' into a supercar because he gets 'motion sickness'
Jason Statham claims his Hobbs & Shaw co-star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson suffers from motion sickness if he travels faster than 30mph.
The Transporter star says Johnson had to be digitally inserted into a McLaren sports car for a scene in the new Fast & Furious spin-off because “his arse was too big to get into the seat” and “he gets very nauseous when we’re going rather fast”.
Talking to Fox 5's entertainment reporter, Kevin McCarthy, Statham dished the dirt on The Rock after learning that his American co-star had boasted that the film’s Hawaii press junket would be “more fun” than Statham’s London one.
“Ask [The Rock] about his motion sickness,” Statham responds in the interview below.
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“I don’t know if you know this but when he was in the McLaren... he wasn’t actually in the McLaren.”
“Ask him about his motion sickness..We had to CG him into the McLaren. One, his a** is too big to get in the seat.”
Hey @TheRock, I just spoke with your boy in London & he wanted me to deliver this message to you. 😂
Leaving for Hawaii tomorrow. See you soon dude! #HobbsAndShaw pic.twitter.com/qReQaSneSd— Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) July 23, 2019
“We had to CG him into the McLaren,” explains Statham. “One: his arse was too big to get into the seat, and two: he gets very nauseous when we’re going rather fast. Because he’s more used to driving these big lumbering trucks, so anything over 30 miles per hour, he gets a little nauseous.
“He gets highly motion sick, so we had to CG The Rock into the McLaren. It’s a known fact on set, and now to the world.”
The scene they’re talking about sees Statham, Vanessa Kirby, and the 6ft 3 former wrestler crammed into a McLaren 720S, while being pursued by Idris Elba’s villain Brixton riding a motorbike.
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The bickering banter between the two leads is likely just an extension of their characters’ adversarial relationship on screen, but it seems like there’s a grain of truth when it comes to that scene in particular.
Watching it back in the trailer, The Rock does look like he might have been composited into the action, but we’re guessing it’s probably due to the lack of space in the tiny sports car rather than his supposed “motion sickness”.
Speaking to camera, Statham concludes his vicious sledging by asking his co-star: “Is your tummy alright, yeah? Your belly OK? Go and have a lie down. 30 miles per hour? Go have a drink of water. Go and have a little sleep.”
Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw lands in cinemas 1 August.