Entertainment

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Just Revealed He Almost Hosted The Oscars This Year

Rich Fury/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images; TheRock/Twitter; Bustle/Screenshot

The Academy Awards are officially moving forward without a host, but one star mentioned he was once a contender for the job. On Wednesday, Feb. 6, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweeted that he almost hosted the 2019 Oscars. Almost. Johnson explained the situation response to one by journalist Dan Buffa, who suggested that the Academy should pick The Rock to host the awards show.

Buffa wrote in his tweet: "If the Academy is so inclined to line up a great host for next year's Oscars, just pick @TheRock. Nuff said." Johnson quoted Buffa's tweet in an RT and wrote the following in response:

Ah mahalo dude, I was their first choice to host this year, and my goal was to make it the most fun and entertaining Oscars ever. We all tried hard, but couldn’t make it work since I’m shooting Jumanji. Academy and I were super bummed but maybe one day down the road

(Bustle reached out to the Oscars for comment, but has not yet received a response.)

Earlier this week, the Academy confirmed that the 2019 Oscars wouldn't have a host for the first time since the 1989 Academy Awards ceremony. It is only the second time in the show's history that there will be no host. In December 2018, comedian Kevin Hart was announced as the host for the ceremony, but he stepped down from the gig after his since-deleted homophobic tweets resurfaced. In January, fellow comedian and two-time former Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres had Hart as a guest on her talk show and asked him to reconsider accepting the Oscars hosting gig. A few days later, Hart announced on Good Morning America that he would not be hosting the Oscars.

The Rock and Hart have co-starred together in the movies Central Intelligence and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Both actors will also appear alongside each other in the Jumanji sequel, which started filming at the end of January and will be released in theaters on Dec. 13. Considering the actors are filming the same movie, that led many fans to speculate how their respective schedules affected their Oscars attendance — or if it's a clue about Hart's role in the sequel film. The Rock and Hart also have a history of teasing each other via social media, so some fans thought it might be another playful tweet between the friendly co-stars.

Even so, that hasn't stopped fans on Twitter from wondering what could have been if The Rock was the Oscars host. Some fans truly believe it would have been very awesome.

One fan wanted The Rock to win an Oscar, rather than just hosting the awards show.

Many fans tweeted that they hoped Johnson might take the hosting job for the 2020 Oscars.

Although The Rock won't be hosting the 2019 Oscars, the star has many upcoming projects in the works. In addition to shooting the Jumanji sequel, Johnson is starring in The Fast & The Furious spinoff film Hobbs & Shaw, which will be in theaters on Aug. 2. He is also starring in Jungle Cruise with Emily Blunt and the film is due in theaters in 2020.

And like many fans said, there's always next year for The Rock to take on the Oscars.