There was an undeniable chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt both within the Jungle Cruise movie and when the pair was giving interviews to promote the new Disney film. They were clearly having fun joking around with each other all throughout the press tour, but it seems that sometimes they were having a bit too much fun and it made Disney nervous. Interviews about Disney movies don’t usually involve anal beads.
Dwayne Johnson is profiled in the newest issue of Vanity Fair and among the numerous topics covered is The Rock’s sense of humor. His Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt says that Johnson, while he is often a perfect gentleman, can also decide to really push a person’s boundaries, which got them in a spot of hot water at one point.
Emily Blunt recalls one interview where the pair were asked what items they would take into the jungle with them. Johnson suggested that Blunt should take Vagisil, so Blunt, looking to respond in kind, suggested Johnson should take anal beads. Blunt says the calls from Disney came soon thereafter. According to the actress…
I can’t tell you, how quick we got those calls: ‘We really love your chemistry and what you guys are doing—but can we dial it back a little bit on the anal beads?’
When you’re Disney you have a certain reputation to maintain. Unlike any other studio, Disney has connected its identity to a type of content that is fun for the whole family. As such, when the stars of your new movie start going off the script, it’s probably easy to get nervous that it’s only going to get worse.
I experienced a slightly lighter version of just this when I interviewed Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt prior to Jungle Cruise’s release. The interview happened to take place on my birthday, and Dwayne Johnson suggested that I go to a strip club to celebrate. Not sure that would have been the official Walt Disney Studios suggestion.
It’s certainly a balancing act for DIsney. Disney wants to get big stars in their movies just like everybody, but those same stars have certainly done other work in the past that likely would not pass muster for the House of Mouse. Disney would probably like most people to not think about Dwayne Johnson’s entire WWE career while watching Jungle Cruise. The interview was already at Disneyland after all.
With Jungle Cruise 2 now on the way, the good news is that Disney will at least be able to manage these two from the start. While certainly we want to see them have fun, one imagines they’ll be asked to keep things PG while they’re doing interviews before anybody says anything too wild rather than waiting until after.