“Dune: Part Two” star Rebecca Ferguson revealed on the “Reign With Josh Smith” podcast that she was once screamed at by a co-star on set to such an unprofessional degree that she ultimately fired back and requested she only act opposite the back of the actor’s head. Ferguson did not name the actor.
“I did a film with an absolute idiot of a co-star and this human being was being so insecure and angry because this person couldn’t get the scenes out,” she said. “And I think I was so vulnerable and uncomfortable that I got screamed at and I would cry walking off set.”
“This person would literally look at me in front of the whole crew and say, ‘You call yourself an actor? This is what I have to work with?’ I stood there just breaking,” Ferguson continued. “Because this person was number one on the call sheet, there was no safety net for me. No one had my back.”
Ferguson said the experience was the first time she ever spoke up for herself as an actor on a set. She arrived on set the next day and told the actor, “You get off my set. You can F off. I’m gonna work towards a tennis ball. I never want to see you again.”
“And then I remember the producers came up and said, ‘You can’t do this to number one. We have to let this person be on set,’” Ferguson remembered. “And I said, ‘The person can turn around and I can act to the back of the head.’ And I did. I was so scared. I feel it now when I’m saying it.”
Ferguson ultimately addressed the situation to her director, who told her: “You’re right. I am not taking care of everyone else. I’m trying to fluff this person because it’s so unstable”
“It was great from that moment, but it took so long for me to get to that,” she concluded.
Ferguson did not name the actor. As her comments gained traction on social media, the actor got some support from Dwayne Johnson, with whom she co-starred with all the way back on 2014’s “Hercules.”
“Hate seeing this but love seeing her stand up to bullshit,” Johnson posted on X. “Rebecca was my guardian angel sent from heaven on our set. I love that woman. I’d like to find out who did this.”
Watch Ferguson’s full interview on the “Reign with Josh Smith” podcast in the video below.
First appeared on variety.com