In February, Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson reflected upon a transformative moment in her decades-long career, remembering a time on-set where an “idiot” A-list co-star made disparaging remarks towards her, ultimately prompting her to tell them to “F off.”
Although she did not name the individual, her comments went viral, with Internet sleuths quickly trying to ascertain the actor’s identity.
“I was not expecting that, by the way,” the “Dune: Part 2” star recently said on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show” of her commentary gaining traction, confessing that a litany of former co-stars had since contacted her in a frenzy.
“Yes, I kind of enjoyed the grab,” Ferguson admitted of the attention. “But I realized, even at the age that I am now…it doesn’t matter. When you sit and do interviews…cause I’m me, right? I definitely think that I’m much more open. I also know where my boundaries are. But the point of the interview wasn’t about finding the person. Of course people will be interested.”
Ferguson said divulging her story wasn’t about naming the individual, but rather highlighting her strength.
“The point was, ‘Is there a point in your career where you were treated in a way where you changed your decision on either – this is how I formulated in myself – You want change or you will not accept it, etcetera.”
Rebecca Ferguson did not name the individual, but her comments went viral, with Internet sleuths quickly trying to ascertain the actor’s identity. AP Ferguson in a scene from “Dune: Part Two.” AP“And it was such a clear moment for me working with this person,” she continued. “I’ve got phone calls from amazing co-stars who I’ve worked with going, ‘You understand what you’ve done, right?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God. No, I didn’t. I didn’t think.'”
“I mean it’s not my responsibility to be honest, I don’t really care, you know. You’re great. But my story is my story and if you’re a good person, then don’t worry about it.”
The “Mission Impossible” actress has worked alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in “Florence Foster Jenkins,” Emily Blunt in “The Girl on the Train,” Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in “Hercules” and Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet and Florence Pugh in “Dune.”
Dwayne Johnson supported Ferguson online after sharing her incident with a co-star. Paramount PicturesBoth Johnson and Blunt have refuted any involvement, showing their support for Ferguson. Johnson wrote on X, “Hate seeing this but love seeing her stand up to bull—. Rebecca was my guardian angel sent from heaven on our set. I love that woman. I’d like to find out who did this.”
A representative for Blunt told The DailyMail, “Rebecca and Emily are friends, and there’s nothing but love between them.”
Ferguson initially told her story on Josh Smith’s podcast, “Reign,” noting at the time that neither A-lister Tom Cruise nor Hugh Jackman, with whom she’s worked on several projects, were the people she was referencing.
Ferguson explained Tom Cruise was not the individual she was referring to. ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection“I did a film with an absolute idiot of a co-star,” she began. “This human being was being so insecure and angry because [they] couldn’t get the scenes out. 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?… What is this?’ And I stood there just breaking.”
“And I remember the next day I walked on and I said, ‘You get off my set.’ That’s the first time I [had] ever spoken — I remember being so scared. And I looked at this person and I said, ‘You can F off. I’m gonna work toward a tennis ball. I never want to see you again.’”
“The point was, ‘Is there a point in your career where you were treated in a way where you changed your decision on either – this is how I formulated in myself – You want change or you will not accept it, etcetera,” Ferguson said. APFerguson explained that she didn’t feel support from executives. “And then I remember the producers came up and said, ‘You can’t do this to No. 1. We have to let this person be on set,’” she explained. “And I said, ‘But the person can turn around and I can act to the back [of their] head.’ And I did.”
“It took so long for me to get to that. It’s within my last 10 years or 12 years. And I’ve acted since I was 16. But from that moment, I have never let myself get to a point when I’ve got home and gone, ‘What did, why did that happen?’”
