“Dune” star Rebecca Ferguson explains why she didn't call out costar who screamed at her on set: 'So scary'
- - “Dune” star Rebecca Ferguson explains why she didn't call out costar who screamed at her on set: 'So scary'
Sydney BucksbaumFebruary 6, 2026 at 2:18 AM
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Rebecca Ferguson in January 2026
Simon Ackerman/WireImage
Rebecca Ferguson doesn't regret keeping the identity of the costar who "screamed" at her on set a secret.
The Dune star has revisited the shocking incident, which she previously discussed in 2024, explaining why she hasn't — and won't — name the "idiot" actor who made her cry.
"It wasn't about the person. It was about me," Ferguson said in a new interview with Harper's Bazaar . "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."
Ferguson, who will return in the third Dune movie in December, added that she thinks the industry is moving in a positive direction regarding how people are treated on set.
Rebecca Ferguson in 'Dune: Part Two'
Warner Bros. Pictures
"A lot of people say that we've become too woke, but I think, no, it's great," she said. "The pendulum needs to swing to the other side so that we can find a balance in between."
Ferguson, who is the executive producer and star of the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Silo, recalled her jarring experience with an unnamed actor on the Reign With Josh Smith podcast in 2024, revealing that an "absolute idiot of a costar" made her cry and walk off set after they screamed, "You call yourself an actor? This is what I have to work with?"
Following the incident, she demanded that the actor leave and asked to perform her scenes with a tennis ball instead. "Because this person was number one on the call sheet, there was no safety net for me," she said at the time. "No one had my back.”
Since Ferguson shared her story, many have speculated who the actor is. While she won't reveal their name, she has confirmed that it's not her former costars Hugh Jackman or Tom Cruise.
Ferguson first met Cruise after she was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2014 for her lead role in the BBC series The White Queen. Cruise was looking for a new costar for the Mission: Impossible movies, and she caught his eye. She ultimately appeared in three of the franchise's films and has nothing but nice things to say about Cruise.
"He comes with this... purpose," Ferguson said. "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."
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She has attributed doing a lot of her own stunts in the movies to Cruise's attitude on set, which resulted in her rappelling down the side of the Vienna State Opera house — even though she was "scared of heights." She even continued doing stunts while pregnant with her daughter in 2018.
"I would be fighting," Ferguson said, "and then I'd run off and vom in a big bag somewhere, have a mint, then run back in."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
