Fulfilled my mother’s dream and bought her a house.
Dwayne «The Rock» Johnson celebrated his 50th birthday. His childhood was not easy, but thanks to the sport he escaped from poverty and became a star — first wrestling, and then cinema.
As a child, Dwayne could take a crooked path. Saved the sport — he was considered a promising player in American football
Dwayne’s parents are wrestler Wade Bowles «Rocky Johnson» and promoter Ata Maivia. His maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, was also a wrestler, and his grandmother ran the Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling promotion. It is not surprising that the future wrestler grew up in such a family.
But Rocky Johnson couldn’t feed his family. He constantly disappeared at work to provide for his son and wife. In the end, the couple broke up, and Dwayne stayed with his mother. Then he was only 14 years old. He calls his relationship with his father «difficult», but he knows that his father loves him in his own way.
Duane and his mother constantly had no money, so the guy even got in touch with the gang and robbed stores. While his mother worked as a cleaner, Dwayne increasingly hated poverty and himself. Sports helped him cope with aggression — and then helped him get off the streets.
The coaches considered him a promising player in American football. So he was able to transfer from a mediocre school to a good place to play for the local team. Dwayne ended up at the University of Miami, where he played for the Miami Hurricanes. It was not in vain that the environment believed in Johnson — in 1991, the team won the NCAA student championship, although Dwayne was not the main star, but more often came on as a substitute.
A back injury forced him to retire from football. Johnson somehow finished his studies, graduated in 1995 and moved to the Canadian Football League, signing a contract with the Calgary Stampeders. So without showing anything, he ended his career in football and followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather — he took up wrestling.
After trial games in the World Wrestling Federation, he was signed to a contract. He had the role of a «face» — a kind character who fights with «heals», antagonists. Faces do not break the rules, unlike evil characters. But the wrestling spectators were tired of the good people, so Johnson, acting under the name Rocky Maivia, was booed. Then he chose a new name — The Rock. Along with his new alter ego, Johnson became a frail and joined the Domination Nation, where he became the WWF Intercontinental Champion. His speeches began with the phrase: «The Rock says …» («The Rock says …»), as he later called his book.
Wrestling is more a show than a sport, so the Rock pumped his charisma and learned how to impress the audience. He became a ten-time world champion, a two-time intercontinental champion and a five-time champion with the team. When Johnson left wrestling in 2004 for a career in Hollywood, his departure was a big loss for viewers. Perhaps the main goal in wrestling was achieved: he fulfilled his childhood dream and made sure that his parents never had to worry about money again.
In 2000, he was offered his first film role — the Scorpion King in the action adventure The Mummy Returns. In 2002, the prequel The Scorpion King was released, starring Johnson. He got into the Guinness Book of Records as the actor with the highest fee for the first major role ($5.5 million). Thus began a career in films, where he did an excellent job with the role of «tough bald guy, scattering bad guys.»
After Fast & Furious, Johnson beamed. He increasingly starred in action films
Real fame came to Johnson along with the fifth «Fast and the Furious». He played special agent Luke Hobbs, who hunts for the main characters Brian and Dominic. At some point in the head of the «honest cop» there is a shift, and he ceases to act within the framework of the law. At the end of the film, it becomes clear that Hobbs will definitely appear in the sixth part, because he will need to track down Letty, who allegedly died in the fourth «Fast and the Furious».
The film was successful, grossing $626 million on a $125 million budget. The ratings were blurry, but that’s mostly because some critics went to The Fast and the Furious expecting to see something big. Everyone liked the emphasis on entertainment, and the simplicity of the plot did not become a serious minus.
Hobbs was given more time in the sixth «Fast and the Furious». His enemy, played by Jason Statham, was also shown there for the first time. A full-fledged skirmish with his hero Deckard Shaw will occur only in the seventh part, and in the eighth Deckard will make peace with the heroes. Between the eighth and ninth parts, a spin-off «Hobbs and Shaw» was released, dedicated to the joint work of Hobbs and Shaw somewhere in the middle of Chernobyl. They are not partners, but they are forced to cooperate, and all the jokes in the film are based on this.
On the set of «Fast and the Furious 8» between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson there was a conflict. Diesel explained this by provoking it on purpose so that the Rock would better get used to the image of Hobbs. Dwayne refused to work with Diesel again, but the franchise itself and other actors speak warmly.
In the ninth Fast and the Furious, Dominic Toretto discovered his brother Jacob, who was played by Johnson’s longtime enemy in the ring, wrestler John Cena. Before that, Cena had roles in the comedies Hello Dad, New Year! 2″ and «No Sex!», but «Fast and the Furious» is his first such a popular franchise.
But back to the Rock. In between Fast and Furious, Johnson continued to star in large-scale action movies. He played the main roles in the films San Andreas Fault, Spy and a Half, Baywatch, Rampage, Blood and Sweat: Anabolics and others. He also played Dr. Bravestone in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level, and later appeared in two more jungle adventure-themed action films, Jungle Cruise with Emily Blunt and Red Notice with Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot.
The superhero action movie Black Adam is due out this summer — that’s the name of the villain in the DC universe. He feuds with the hero Shazam.
Johnson is not limited to action films and wrestling. In December, The Rock appeared in Fortnite, where he saved everyone from aliens. And then the island on which the game takes place turned over. Sounds crazy, probably someday we will see this in the Fast and the Furious.
One of his daughters also became a wrestler. And the other two are still too small
Johnson and his first wife, Dani Garcia, are more than just a family. Since 2008, immediately after the divorce, Dani began to manage Johnson’s company. They parted amicably, and their daughter Simone (2001) followed in her father’s footsteps and took up wrestling, becoming the first WWE wrestler in the fourth generation.
In 2015, Dwayne and his girlfriend Lauren Hashian had a daughter, Jasmine Leah Johnson, and three years later, Lauren gave birth to another daughter, Tiana Gia Johnson. The couple got married in 2019.
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Johnny Depp and Amber Heard divorced in 2016 but are still suing. She accuses him of violence and bullying, and he accuses him of ruining his career.
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