Rebecca Ferguson says naming her abusive co-star misses the point

Rebecca Ferguson is making one thing very clear: she does not want people guessing who the actor was.

The star of Dune: Part Two and Mission: Impossible went viral in 2024 after revealing that a male co-star once screamed at her on set and reduced her to tears. She never named the actor, but that didn’t stop social media from speculating wildly, with names like Hugh Jackman and Tom Cruise being thrown around.

In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Ferguson says all that guessing completely misses why she shared the story in the first place.

“It wasn’t about the person. It was about me,” she said.
“It was so scary. I didn’t know then how to say, ‘Can I talk to you privately?’ Today, I’d like to believe I could.”

A story about growth, not blame

Ferguson explained that she spoke up to show how much she has grown — and how film sets are slowly changing for the better. Early in her career, she felt powerless. Now, she feels more confident standing up for herself.

She also pushed back against claims that the film industry has become “too woke.”

“A lot of people say that we’ve become too woke,” Ferguson said.
“But I think it’s great. The pendulum needed to swing so we could find balance.”

What happened on set

Ferguson first shared the story during her Dune: Part Two press tour on the Reign With Josh Smith podcast.

She described working with an “idiot” co-star who became angry and insecure when scenes weren’t going well. According to Ferguson, the actor screamed at her in front of the entire crew.

“This person would look at me and say, ‘You call yourself an actor? This is what I have to work with?’”
“I would cry walking off set.”

Because the actor was “number one on the call sheet,” Ferguson said no one stepped in to protect her.

The moment she fought back

The next day, Ferguson finally spoke up.

She told the actor to get off her set and said she would no longer act opposite him. When producers told her that wasn’t possible, she offered a compromise: she would act to the back of his head instead.

And that’s exactly what she did.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I still feel it when I talk about it.”

Support from co-stars

After her story went viral, Ferguson received public support from Dwayne Johnson, her former co-star from Hercules.

“Hate seeing this but love seeing her stand up to bullshit,” Johnson wrote on X.
“Rebecca was my guardian angel on our set.”

Behind the scenes, other former co-stars also reached out to her.

In an interview on The Jess Cagle Show, Ferguson said some actors warned her that people would start guessing names.

Her response?

“That’s not my responsibility,” she said.
“My story is my story. If you’re a good person, don’t worry about it.”

The bigger message

For Ferguson, the story was never about exposing someone. It was about showing how hard it can be to speak up — and how important it is to do so anyway.

And if people are still trying to play detective?

They’re missing the point.