Dune star Rebecca Ferguson has revealed that a former film co-star ‘screamed’ at her and left her walking off set crying.
The Swedish actress, 40, opened up about life on set as a younger star when she appeared on Tuesday’s episode of the Reign with Josh Smith podcast.
One Person She Will Never Work With Again
During the podcast, Rebecca revealed that there is one ‘absolute idiot of a co-star’ she will never work with again after how they treated her on the set of a previous film – but confirmed it was not Hugh Jackman or Tom Cruise, who she acted alongside in The Greatest Showman and Mission Impossible.
What Happened?
‘I remember there was a moment and this human being was being so insecure and angry because this person couldn’t get the scenes out,’ she said. ‘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.’
Rebecca recalled that the co-star would say things to her on set like ‘You call yourself an actor?’, ‘This is what I have to work with?’, and ‘What the f**k is this?,’ in front of the whole crew.
‘I stood there just breaking,’ she said.
No Support From Others
Rebecca hoped she would have the support of producers in that situation but said she did not.
However after being subjected to the co-star’s temper, Rebecca claimed she walked in the next day and spoke up for the first time. ‘You get off my set,’ she told the co-star.
‘I remember being so scared,’ she said. ‘I looked at this person and I said, “You can F off. I’m gonna work towards a tennis ball. I never want to see you again.”‘
How She Stood Her Ground
Rebecca claimed producers told her she could not do that to the actor in question, referred to as ‘number one’, because they had to be on set.
But the actress stood her ground and said instead the co-star could turn around and she would act to the back of their head. ‘And I did,’ she aid. ‘And I remember thinking that time, I was so scared.’
Rebecca said she then went to the director after the scene demanding to know why that behaviour was allowed to continue.
What The Director Told Her
She added: ‘The director said, “You’re right. I am not taking care of everyone else. I’m trying to fluff this person. Because it’s so unstable.”
‘It was great from that moment, but it took so long for me to get to that. It’s within my last 10 or 12 years and I’ve acted since I was 16.’
What She Learned From Timothée Chalamet
During the episode, Rebecca also spoke about the valuable lessons she has learned from working with Timothée Chalamet on Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two.
‘I’m just having fun and I’m doing a plethora of different things, you know,’ she said.
‘He’s carrying things. I remember the moments where I would giggle and have fun and I could sense that it wasn’t really helping him. So I think I learned a lot from looking at the process of one of our incredible independent actors on the set of a studio movie.’
She added: ‘The respect that you need to hold for everyone… I’ve learned more from him without him knowing it.’
It comes after reviews for Dune: Part Two showed it may be an even bigger hit than the first instalment.
Director Denis Villeneuve tackled author Frank Herbert’s massive 1965 sci-fi masterpiece with a two-part film, splitting the 896-page book in half.
