How Emily Blunt got in trouble with Disney: “I can’t tell you how quick we got those calls”
There are certainly some unique celebrity friendships out there that none of us could’ve predicted, like Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart or Michael Caine and Vin Diesel (he even calls the Fast and Furious star his “son”).
How about Emily Blunt and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson? Few could see them becoming as close as they have, but they’ve worked alongside each other multiple times, and their friendship even led them to receive disparaging calls from Disney.
The pair first worked together on 2021’s Jungle Cruise for Disney, which used the theme park ride of the same name as inspiration. Who said cinema’s dead? Anyway, during the filming of the movie, Blunt and Johnson became best friends, while their kids have also become close, too. In fact, the actors have such good chemistry that they teamed up again for 2025’s The Smashing Machine, which sees Blunt play the wife of Johnson’s MMA fighter protagonist.
You could argue that Blunt has significantly helped Johnson expand his career towards much more impressive heights, with his role in The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie, becoming one of the first movies to demonstrate his true acting talents. Having built up a reputation as a blockbuster and action star, it seems like Blunt is able to bring out a slightly more unexpected side to the actor – one that has gone down incredibly well with critics.
However, back when they were promoting the family-friendly Jungle Cruise, the pair seemed to forget that their interviews were actually going to be broadcast, leading them to spout some rather inappropriate jokes that Disney was not impressed with.
Blunt told Vanity Fair that Johnson “has no boundaries whatsoever. He’s a very confusing person, because he’s the most polite gentleman in the world, and then he will just push the boundaries until he is saying things that will just make your head spin to make you laugh…. I think that he’s got this rebellious kid in him that won’t be straitjacketed.”
The interview that had Disney picking up the phone and giving the pair a smack on the back of the hand involved a discussion about anal beads and Vagisil, which is not exactly what the corporation wanted to hear. God knows what the pair actually talk about behind closed doors. Perhaps it’s for the best that we don’t know.
“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?’” explained Johnson in the same interview. So, they reigned in the X-rated chat about sex toys and vaginal anti-itch cream and got back to the fucking movie business, and clearly their naughty conversation topics didn’t affect the project too much. It might not have been the biggest box office success, but it performed well enough for a goddamn sequel to be greenlit, which will see Blunt and Johnson come together for the third time.
Hopefully, their promotional interviews this time around will be a lot more PG for the sake of avoiding more angry Disney phone calls.
