Rebecca Ferguson reveals reason for silence on co-star

Shahana Yasmin, The Independent

Rebecca Ferguson has explained why she will not name the "idiot" co-star who yelled at her on set, saying the story isn't "about the person". In February 2024, the Dune actor, 42, first opened up about the time she was verbally accosted by an "absolute idiot of a co-star" on the set of a previous movie. In a cover story for Harper's Bazaar, Ferguson said who screamed at her wasn't the point. "It wasn't about the person. It was about me. It was so scary. I didn't know then how to go, 'Hey, can I talk to you privately?' Now, I would want to believe that I could have taken this person aside," she argued.

"A lot of people say that we've become too woke, but I think, no, it's great. The pendulum needs to swing to the other side so that we can find a balance in between." The Silo star has since clarified that it was not her The Greatest Showman co-star Hugh Jackman or Tom Cruise, whom she starred with in Mission: Impossible. She told the magazine Cruise had "purpose". "He's a boy who just loves playing, and offers up a safe and professional set. That's a really good balance [of qualities] to make you want to try new things," she said.

Ferguson also clarified in an interview with The Independent that the actor in question isn't her Life co-star Ryan Reynolds.

"I was furious when they were slagging off Ryan Reynolds. I loved working with him. He was amazing," she said. "And I know it's interesting from a media point of view, but my intention was never to throw someone under the bus. The whole point was that I learned something from it. Some people push (that kind of thing) down. Some people don't talk about it. But I have no problem standing up for myself." In a 2024 interview on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Ferguson first described the incident in detail, saying that the actor was " being so insecure and angry because this person couldn't get the scenes out".

"And I think I was so vulnerable and uncomfortable that I got screamed at. But because this person was number one on a call sheet, there was no safety net for me. So no one had my back. And I would cry walking off set," she said. "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?' in front of the whole crew. I stood there just breaking."

However, she claimed that when she returned to filming the next day, she decided to speak up and told the person: "You get off my set. I'm gonna work (with) a tennis ball, I never wanna see you again." Ferguson's comments at the time drew a flood of support from fans and former co-stars, including Dwayne Johnson, who wanted to find out the identity of her unnamed aggressor. Ferguson said she wasn't expecting the outpouring of support" but still declined to name the actor.

"Number one, yes, I kind of enjoyed the grab. But what I realised even at the age that I am now is it doesn't matter. I'm me. I definitely think 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," she said on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show in April 2024.

Ferguson can next be seen in Timur Bekmambetov's futuristic sci-fi thriller Mercy, opposite Chris Pratt. The film follows a world where advanced technology handles justice by strapping the accused to a chair with 90 minutes to prove their innocence. If they fail, the chair becomes an electric one. Pratt plays police officer Christopher Rave, who helped create the robot judge, and finds himself both in the chair and at the mercy of Ferguson's AI judge Madox.