Prior to the release of DC’s Black Adam, star Dwayne Johnson recalls being told that his WWE character, The Rock, couldn’t be a successful movie star.
If the release of Black Adam approaching, Dwayne Johnson recalls the early days of his career when he was told The Rock couldn’t be a movie star. Johnson got his start in the entertainment industry with WWE, where he went by the name The Rock. Although now known for hit franchises such as Fast & Furious, Johnson first impressed audiences as a wrestler for eight years before making the leap into acting. Johnson has since starred in a number of hit films, including: San Andreas, Baywatch, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Skyscraperand Jungle Cruise.
The actor is next scheduled to appear in Black Adam, an upcoming DCEU movie that tells the story of Teth-Adam, an antihero determined to unleash his violent form of justice on the world. The film is Johnson’s debut as a superhero, also introducing characters such as Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, and Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone. Johnson has long argued that Black Adam will change the hierarchy of the DCEU and has also several times expressed support for a showdown between his hero and Henry Cavill’s Superman.
In a new interview on Good morning Americatells Dwayne Johnson about previous criticisms of his wrestling character and how he fuels his Black Adam performance. Although he is now one of the greatest movie stars of all time, Johnson reveals that there was a time when people in Hollywood made it clear that he would have to drastically change himself to be successful. Watch Johnson’s full response below:
“I tried to think of times in the past” [filming Black Adam] where I felt really limited. And as if I had the chains around me. And people who said to me, ‘Well, you can do it like this, you have to do it like this.’ For example, when I first arrived in Hollywood many moons ago, I was told – outside the world of pro wrestling – I was told, ‘Well, if you want to make it if you want to be a star’ – the biggest stars at the time were George Clooney and Johnny Depp and Will Smith. Then I was told, ‘You can’t call yourself The Rock. Don’t talk about pro wrestling. You have to lose weight, on a diet, you are too big, go to the gym less.’
“There were a lot of things like that that I was told and if you don’t know any better, you believe in it. And I chose it for a few years before I said, ‘This ends now. And I’m going to be myself and if I fail, I won’t be able to be myself.” So I took advantage of that because a lot of those elements surround Black Adam’s life. And his existence of being told ‘you have to do it like this.’”
Why Black Adam is Johnson’s Perfect Movie Star
Johnson is no stranger to playing a lead character in his movies, and after all, he’s the main draw for movies like Rampage, Skyscraperand San Andreas. Johnson’s role in Black Adam, however, feels like the pinnacle of all of his Hollywood roles and the film has been marketed specifically around the idea that this hero is unlike any other superhero. Johnson himself has also tried to Black Adam made for years and promotes the project more vigorously than any other role in his career.
if Black Adam is a success, the film could become a cornerstone for a whole new era in the DCEU. Not only could Black Adam will have a direct sequel, but Johnson’s hero could become the focus of team-up movies in the future, including the highly anticipated meeting between Black Adam and Superman. Just like Robert Downey Jr. became the centerpiece of the MCU, Black Adam Johnson’s place as the DC equivalent of Downey Jr. very well, which would further cement the actor’s place as one of the ultimate movie stars of this generation.
Source: Good morning America
