Jungle Cruise stars Jack Whitehall and Dwayne Johnson reflect on sexuality scene
"It was a scene that we really wanted to get right," says Whitehall.
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Instagram/@therock
Jack Whitehall and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson have discussed the supposed-‘gay moment’ in Jungle Cruise. (Please beware of spoilers before reading on).
News of Whitehall’s casting broke in 2018, with sources saying his character McGregor would be “effete, camp” and gay.
In actuality, McGregor’s sexuality is never specifically addressed in the newly-released movie – but in one scene, McGregor opens up to Johnson’s character Frank about breaking up with his female fiancée because his interests “lie elsewhere”.
“Two men talking about what they loved and who they loved”
At a recent press conference, Johnson said (as per Out): “I felt that the scene was really exactly what it was, which was two men talking about what they loved and who they loved.
“It was as simple as that, and we were sharing a drink.”
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“It was a scene that we really wanted to get right,” Whitehall added. “I think what’s so great about this movie is that all of the characters feel so fleshed out, and all of them have interesting backstories and are fully realised.
“In a lot of movies of this kind of genre, sometimes you’d have characters that are a little bit kinda two-dimensional. But I think it’s so great that we get to understand so much about each of these characters, and they all have reasons for being where they are and interesting and rich textured backstories.
“It makes you invested in them, and it makes you care about them. It makes you really on that journey with them.”
Speaking to Variety about the scene at the film’s premiere in LA last week, Whitehall said: “I think it was a really well-written scene and one that we certainly thought about and talked about.
“I hope that it’s a scene that audiences enjoy… I certainly felt at the time that I was proud of the work that we’d done.”
Jungle Cruise, which also stars Emily Blunt, is out now.
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