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The Cast Of Jungle Cruise Shares Their Favorite Dad Jokes & More

During the press event for Disney’s Jungle Cruise the cast shares their favorite dad jokes, the hardest stunt, and more!

jungle cruise cast interview

Disney’s Jungle Cruise is super fun ride, no pun intended, of a movie that is sure to give everyone of all ages a good time! There is action, adventure, and of course, a whole lot of puns and dad jokes. In an interview with the cast to promote the film, they tell us their favorite dad jokes — as well a lot of behind the scenes information like which stunt was the hardest to nail and why Emily Blunt almost never signed on to the do the film.

Participating Talent

  • Dwayne Johnson (“Frank Wolff”)
  • Emily Blunt (“Lily Houghton”)
  • Jack Whitehall (“MacGregor Houghton”)
  • Edgar Ramirez (“Aguirre”)
  • Moderator: Nikki Novak / Fandango

jungle cruise the rock emily blunt

Dwayne Johnson Almost Scared Emily Blunt Away

Nearly every review for Jungle Cruise states that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Frank) and Emily Blunt (Dr. Lily) have amazing chemistry. They work very well together in this movie and Johnson knew that was going to be the case so he worked very hard to get Blunt to sign on for the film. However, he tried almost too hard and forced her to play hard to get and actually ghost him.

Jungle Cruise Director Jaume Collet-Serra was flying to New York to hand deliver the script to Blunt when she was considering the role, and Johnson decided to send a video along with it. Blunt says it was 10 minutes long and he came on a bit too strong, while Johnson says he just explained that she was the only one that could do this movie. 

Blunt was touched, but explains that as a British person if someone comes on too strong, you need to back away for a bit so they can calm it down. Jack Whitehall even agrees with her on this point. She explained she needed to back it up a bit, but that she did love his video.

They went on to both explain that when they finally met in person, the chemistry was instant, and they were pals for life immediately — as he was with the rest of the Jungle Cruise cast.

jungle cruise movie disney

Jack Whitehall’s One Liners

Jack Whitehall plays MacGregor who goes through the whole film delivering hilarious one liners. But this isn’t his first Disney film. He recorded one line from Frozen — that was cut from the final film. He jokes that the fact there is even a single line of his in this film, is an improvement over the Frozen debacle, and he is “so excited to actually be a speaking part in a Disney film.”

Whitehall goes on to explain that the script was amazing already, but there was also space to improvise and add things to it. He also says that Blunt and Johnson created an environment where it was a safe space to throw in whatever improv you wanted to. “Some of the great moments you see in the film are genuine moments that we came up with in the moment.”

Edgar’s Look In The Film

Edgar Ramirez’s character has a very unique look in Disney’s Jungle Cruise that involves snakes, and Ramirez admits that he is very happy he was nowhere near snakes during the filming of the movie because he is super afraid of them. 

“We encountered some [snakes] when we were shooting in Atlanta because we shot in real locations and we dressed them to look like the Amazon. It’s incredible. I come from an Amazonian country, and I saw the movie for the first time two days ago at the premiere. I loved it.” – Edgar Ramirez

He adds that his mother is super afraid of snakes as well, and even admitted to missing half of his performance at the premiere because she couldn’t watch.

jungle cruise movie

Hardest Stunt To Film

There are a lot of incredible stunts in this action packed film, and when asked which was the most difficult, Emily Blunt did not even have to think about it. She says it was the vine swing, but not because of anything physical about it, because Dwayne Johnson couldn’t let her get through it without a straight face. 

Johnson would say something different each time they would swing, and he would not warn her what it was going to be. He had her cracking up so much that they shot that moment all day. “Every time he’d throw in some awful improve that would make me laugh. I don’t know how many times we must have shot that.”

Johnson says that for him, the hardest to film was the action with the Conquistadors. He says it was challenging because of how they were dressed, in their costumes, but also because they fight in a very different way, and with a different energy. 

Favorite Dad Joke

This movie is filled with dad jokes and puns, so which ones are the Jungle Cruise cast favorites? 

Dwayne Johnson: “Did you hear about the chameleon who couldn’t change colors? He suffered from reptile dysfunction.”

Jack Whitehall: “I was seeing a cross-eyed girl, but, uh, it didn’t work out. We couldn’t see eye to eye.”

Edgar Ramirez: ” I was waiting for housekeeping to come and help me with something, and they took forever. So basically what I called was “Houseskipping.” 

If you enjoyed this interview with the Jungle Cruise cast, check out this Disney’s Jungle Cruise review.

jungle cruise poster

About Jungle Cruise

Join fan favorites Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt for the adventure of a lifetime on Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” a rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff and intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton. Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists Frank’s questionable services to guide her downriver on La Quila – his ramshackle-but-charming boat. Lily is determined to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities – possessing the power to change the future of medicine. Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank and their fate – and mankind’s – hangs in the balance.

Jaume Collet-Serra directs the film, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez and Jack Whitehall, with Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti. John Davis, John Fox, Dwayne Johnson, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia and Beau Flynn are the producers, with Scott Sheldon and Doug Merrifield serving as executive producers. The story is by John Norville & Josh Goldstein and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa, and the screenplay is by Michael Green and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa.

Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” releases in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on July 30, 2021.