Dwayne Johnson pays tribute to Robin Williams with Jumanji prop
Dwayne Johnson revealed he kept one of the original dice used in the 1995 Jumanji as a tribute to Robin Williams. The actor also recalled jokingly denying he had the prop when crew members asked him to return it
Los Angeles: Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson has admitted to taking the late actor Robin Williams’ prop dice from the upcoming film Jumanji: Open World and jokingly confessed that he later denied having it.
The 54-year-old actor had previously revealed that the game piece, which his character Dr Xander ‘Smolder’ Bravestone wears around his neck in the upcoming film, pays homage to the late screen legend because it was used in the original 1995 Jumanji film.
He told People.com: “The last prop that I took from the set was the dice that I wore in Jumanji. That is one half of a pair of dice that they used in the original, OG Jumanji. There’s a big scene where the dice are slow rolling, and it’s in slow motion and so dramatic. One half of those dice – die? Dice? – my character wears in the film.
“And I took that home. Props, they’re always amazing, but you gotta give that back.”
Crew members asked Johnson to return the souvenir, and he quickly changed the subject, reports Female First.
He said: “They were like, ‘Hey DJ, do you have the…?’ And I was like, ‘Nah, I gave it – I don’t – ah, I got to go.'”
The star also confessed to taking Maui’s magical fishhook from the live-action Moana film, but there were multiple versions of that particular prop, so he avoided getting into trouble.
Earlier this year, Johnson paid an emotional tribute to Robin Williams as the cast of the new Jumanji film gathered at CinemaCon to reveal the movie’s full title.
Speaking at the Sony Pictures event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, he said: “This whole franchise would not have started or happened or kicked off in this really beautiful way without one man, and that’s Robin Williams.”
Discussing the tribute to the comedy star in the upcoming film, he said: “If you don’t know already, it’s one half of the original dice that was used in the original Jumanji. Robin, as we like to say, this one’s for you.”
He also showed the “Easter egg” tribute to Robin Williams, who died in 2014 at the age of 63, when filming began on Jumanji: Open World.
Speaking in November, he said in an Instagram video: “Little day one of Jumanji excitement. That was cool. As you see, a little Easter egg for Dr Bravestone. This is the dice from the original Jumanji with Robin Williams, as a show of respect and a way of honouring Robin and this entire franchise that he started as we film our very last Jumanji. Big finale. Here we go, let’s shoot!”
