The action star tells ET that the improvised moment was one of several Vin Diesel jokes his co-star made.
The upcoming Netflix action movie Red Notice is filled with star power thanks to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. But towards the end of the film, there's even a pointed joke about a celebrity not in the movie -- Johnson's Fast and Furious franchise co-star, Vin Diesel.
Johnson, 49, and Diesel, 54, had reported drama on the Fast and Furious sets went public a few years ago, which led Reynolds to throw in a quip about Diesel in his and Johnson's Netflix film.
"You know, Ryan loves to improv, and I love that," Johnson told ET's Matt Cohen at the Los Angeles premiere of Red Notice on Wednesday. "I've known Ryan for a long time, 20 years. Man, we go way back. I've known Ryan longer than anyone in Hollywood, and so that's how close we are and the Vin joke, audiences love it, very, very funny. But that was Ryan. He came up with that."
In fact, the joke that made it into the final cut of the film wasn't the only one Reynolds told at Diesel's expense.
"He came up with a few of them, and I thought that was the one that could be funny," Johnson explained. "Look, in a movie like this, you've got to have a sense of humor."
Johnson and Diesel's reported feud went public in 2016 when Johnson called a few of his male Fast & Furious co-stars "candy a**es" and "unprofessional" on Instagram, which fans quickly speculated was about Diesel. A source told ET at the time that Diesel and Johnson definitely clashed on set during filming.
In a recent Vanity Fair profile, Johnson admitted to regretting the post after the fact.
"It wasn’t my best day, sharing that. I shouldn’t have shared that. Because at the end of the day, that goes against my DNA. I don’t share things like that. And I take care of that kind of bulls**t away from the public. They don’t need to know that. That’s why I say it wasn’t my best day," he said. "I meant what I said. For sure. I mean what I say when I say it. But to express it publicly was not the right thing to do."
He also revealed that the two stars met to hash things out after the Instagram post went viral.
"Well, there was a meeting," Johnson told the magazine. "I wouldn’t call it a peaceful meeting. I would call it a meeting of clarity. He and I had a good chat in my trailer, and it was out of that chat that it really became just crystal clear that we are two separate ends of the spectrum. And agreed to leave it there."
Johnson spoke with ET about the rumored feud back in 2017 at the New York City premiere of The Fate of the Furious.
"In life, you have different philosophies and people have different fundamental philosophies on how you do things," Johnson said at the time. "And again, the most important thing is just the movie. So I'm happy that we're here in New York City, I'm happy the fans love it."
Diesel also commented on the alleged beef at the 2017 premiere, telling ET, "In my house, he's 'Uncle Dwayne,' and I'm proud of that. We still love each other, that's my boy. When I was making that difficult decision, should there be a [Fast & Furious] 8 or not, I called [Johnson] and he said, 'Brother, I will be there shoulder to shoulder with you to make sure it's the best movie in history.' And he delivered."
As for Red Notice, Johnson can't wait for audiences to see it.
"I think what they're gonna love most about the movie is the fun we have in the movie," he told ET on Wednesday. "I also think what they're gonna love about the movie is the -- without giving it away -- all the twists along the way and that is what made this movie so exciting for us to make and exciting for us to deliver."
Check out Reynolds' joke about Diesel when Red Notice starts streaming Friday on Netflix.
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