Jack Whitehall used to be "obsessed" with Duane 'The Rock' Johnson.

Jack Whitehall idolised Dwayne Johnson

Jack Whitehall idolised Dwayne Johnson

The 33-year-old actor was thrilled to be cast in 'Jungle Cruise' alongside the former WWE legend because he had loved watching him in the ring when he was younger, and he wasn't disappointed when he finally met his "hero" because the 'Moana' star was "over the moon" to talk about wrestling with him.

Jack admitted: "[He] was my hero. I was obsessed with him. I was obsessed with wrestling. I watched WWE all the time."

Discussing their first meeting, he added: "I'd flown out to Hawaii and I walked out onto the biggest movie set I'd ever seen in my life and walked down to do this scene that was a two-hander with me and Dwayne. That day, I'd been like 'Whatever you do, remember to be professional and don't turn yourself into a fan.'...

"He was one of those people where, because wrestling was his passion, he was over the moon to talk about it. And that was the breakthrough, when I realised we could talk about wrestling."

Meanwhile, Jack recalled the hilarious moment when his 'Decline and Fall' co-star, Eva Longoria, excitedly came into work to tell him about an "incredible" restaurant she'd found in Cardiff, Wales, close to where they were filming - only for it to be a branch of popular high street chain Pizza Express.

Speaking to Jay Rayner on his podcast, 'Out To Lunch', Jack said: "She, I think, didn't realise that Cardiff was in Wales. She certainly didn't realise that Cardiff was that far away from London. She thought she was going to stay in some lovely swanky London hotel, have dinners out with all of her friends.

"She arrived in Cardiff and got a rude awakening... She was great and really entered into the spirit of things but couldn't find a restaurant that was quite up to the standard of Beverley Hills in Cardiff until one day, she came onto set and said 'Oh my God, I found the most incredible little Italian. I went there last night. The owner, he was so charming and I had the best pasta I have ever had anywhere in the world... it's called Pizza Express.'

"I promise you, she said Pizza Express. She'd been in a little Pizza Express in Cardiff and thought she'd found this incredible, authentic Italian."

'Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner' is available weekly on all podcast providers.