Back on the grind! Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is set to resume production on his upcoming film Red Notice after confirming his previous brush with the novel coronavirus.
Johnson’s producing partner, Hiram Garcia, opened up to Variety about the 48-year-old actor gearing up to return to the Netflix film’s set on Monday, September 14. Upon doing so, Garcia revealed whether those working on the action-comedy were worried about Johnson’s diagnosis potentially setting back the project further.
“I think we’re all so weather-tested, at this point. We just looked at the situation and got all the information and knew that we would adjust accordingly,” he explained in the interview posted on Friday, September 11. “If there has ever been a time where productions are super light on their feet and ready to pivot and adjust, it’s now.”
Garcia, who is also Johnson’s former brother-in-law through his marriage to Dany Garcia, added: “Everyone’s main concern was just that he and his family were safe, and once we knew that they were safe, the rest would work itself out.”
On September 2, Johnson announced that he and his family had tested positive for COVID-19. He confirmed that his wife, Lauren Hashian, and their two daughters, Jasmine, 4, and Tiana, 2, were now doing “good” after working through the health issue over the last two-and-a-half to three weeks.
“I could tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we have ever had to endure as a family, and for me, too, personally as well,” he explained in an 11-minute Instagram video. “And I’ve gone through some doozies in the past. Testing positive for COVID-19 is much different than overcoming nasty injuries, or being evicted, or even being broke, which I have been more than a few times.”
Just before the COVID-19 crisis hit, Johnson’s film Red Notice was half-way finished with shooting but was delayed due to health safety reasons. Hiram told Variety on Friday that it’s been “an incredible process and undertaking” to get the production back on track. He added that Netflix is “100 percent behind” doing whatever it takes to keep everyone involved safe.
“[We’re doing] everything from testing every day to temperatures being checked. We have a pod system, we have zones — yellow, red, green, depending on who can go where — we only have limited people on sets,” Hiram continued. “There are giant manuals with hundreds and hundreds of pages of these new protocols, and we’ve worked really closely with Netflix and amazing epidemiologists and doctors to come up with this plan that feels super sound. We’re all very confident in it.”
Johnson’s Red Notice costar Ryan Reynolds confirmed via Twitter that he’s getting “back to work” on the film on Saturday, September 12. He shared the news alongside photos of him receiving a coronavirus test, during which a medical professional swabs the insides of one’s nose.
A few days before Reynold’s update, Gal Gadot also shared via Instagram that she was “getting ready to head back to the Red Notice set.” The 35-year-old actress noted how “prep looks a little different now” that she has to get a COVID-19 test prior to returning, and she shared photos from her testing experience.
