In August 2015, Payne accompanied Johnson to the Hollywood premiere of "Digging For Fire," which marked their red carpet debut as a couple.
Payne's artistic eye once helped her husband transform his initial vision for "Digging For Fire." After hearing Johnson's pitch for the film, Payne told Johnson that she "hated" both his character and the movie, and her critique made Johnson realize that the story needed to be worked. "So I talked to [director] Joe [Swanberg], and he 100 percent agreed," Johnson told The Mary Sue in August 2015. "So at that point we needed a woman who was very strong and talented, who could help build that story in a way Joe and I didn't think we could at the time." In the end, Payne's input influenced the movie to focus more on Johnson's character's marriage.
