At the age of 48, Dwayne Johnson has a brilliant wrestling career, a huge movie fortune, a dream income and a happy home. However, few people know that to have the life he has now, what he has gone through…
When I was in school, I was shunned and depressed because I couldn’t pursue my dreams
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was born in 1972 into a family with a wrestling tradition. His father is Rocky Johnson – the first African-American wrestling champion and the male artist’s grandfather is Chief Peter Maivia, a Samoan wrestling pioneer.
The Rock’s athletic body when he was just 15 years old
PHOTO: INSTAGRAM NV
Growing up in such a special family, since childhood, the Jumanji movie star has had a larger physique than his peers. At the age of 15, teenager Dwayne Johnson was 1.9m tall, weighed more than 90kg with an athletic physique and solid muscles. However, his appearance like that of a “giant” makes the school years a not-so-good memory for the famous actor.
The 48-year-old actor once shared that he was shunned by friends and even some teachers, and was hesitant to interact with him just because of his “massive” appearance. “When I went to a new school, everyone treated me as if I had the plague and even avoided me because they mistook this tall guy for an undercover police officer,” this muscular hero once confided.
Not only was he shunned, The Rock’s childhood constantly witnessed tensions and worries that turned into arguments between his parents because of the pressure of food and money. When Dwayne Johnson was 14 years old, the star’s family was deported from Hawaii and went through a difficult time because they had no place to go.
In an award acceptance speech in 2018, the actor admitted that he once stole steaks from a grocery store just because he had no way to buy them. The famous artist also revealed to Daily Express that at the age of 15, he witnessed his mother trying to die from poverty. However, in the end, she chose to continue living and tried to escape the quagmire of fate.
Dwayne Johnson revealed that he went through a period of depression because he could not pursue his passion for rugby
Growing up, The Rock went through a period of sadness and despair due to not being able to pursue the path he always wanted. Although he grew up in a family with a wrestling tradition, this artist has a strong passion for rugby. He was a great athlete in high school, was named to the Miami University football team (USA) and then was called up to the national team at the age of 19.
However, his performance declined. Due to continuous injuries, this star was removed from the squad. Even though he no longer has the opportunity to play football at a high level, Dwayne Johnson still desires to pursue a professional rugby career and participate in smaller teams, but he also struggles for a long time and in the end still fails. get the old ending.
This became a big shock for the famous actor, causing him to suffer from depression for a long time. “The dreams I had were all shattered. No more rugby career. That was the worst period of my life,” The Rock recalled.
Turn to wrestling and become a legend in the ring
Former wrestler Rocky Johnson was instrumental in turning his son towards wrestling to become a legendary star in the ring
Putting aside his dream of rugby, the Fast & Furious movie star was persuaded by his father, famous former wrestler Rocky Johnson, to follow the path of wrestling and train him to become a fierce warrior on the ring.
Gradually, The Rock revealed a rare talent in this subject. The year 1995 was considered a major turning point in the powerful actor’s life when he officially became a WWE fighter with the nickname Rocky Maivia, taken from the names of his father and grandfather to remind him of his roots.
From a boxer who only appeared at small events, Dwayne Johnson gradually attracted attention and received an invitation to participate in the Survivor program that revolves around matches between professional wrestlers.
After many years of “fighting”, young Rocky Maivia suddenly became a strong and courageous The Rock in the ring, where he showed off dangerous blows, fast, strong and difficult martial arts moves. can be confused anywhere. With a series of championships in many tournaments, this artist is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history.
The Rock’s remarkable achievements in the ring made him a living legend of the wrestling industry
Having spent his most glorious years as a wrestler, in 2004, Dwayne Johnson said goodbye to the ring and focused on acting. Three years later, The Rock returned to this violent arena and has appeared sporadically as a wrestler since then. Sharing about returning to the ring, The Rock once confided: “I came back not for money, not because I like to conquer, but because I really love wrestling.”
Perhaps it is the martial spirit inherited from his father and grandfather and the martial bloodline that is so deeply ingrained in The Rock’s mind that this star cannot deny that wrestling has become a part of his life even though it is a part of his life. was not his greatest passion.
Enter the cinema and become a billion-dollar Hollywood superstar
Dwayne Johnson with a strong image in The Scorpion King
In the early 2000s, the 48-year-old star decided to step away from the glory of his wrestling career to turn to acting and fortunately, this field continued to make his name famous around the world . The famous actor first appeared as an actor in The Mummy Returns , released in 2001. Not long after his debut film, the actor continued to accept the invitation to participate in the project The Scorpion King. ( Scorpion King ).
Even though this is the first leading role in his acting career, an “outsider” like Dwayne Johnson receives a salary of up to 5.5 million USD (more than 127 billion VND) – an income that many actors Professionals must be envied. The success of The Scorpion King helped The Rock go deeper into acting. Not long after, he was recognized by the audience as a true action star thanks to The Rundown (2003).
Remember, when he first started his career, Rolling Stone once had promising lines when talking about the star of the movie Skyscraper : “The Rock has an acumen that is very suitable for action movies. He will definitely become a real movie star.”
This famous magazine predicted correctly because just a few years later, when mentioning Dwayne Johnson, the public immediately remembered him as one of Hollywood’s top action superstars. The actor continuously stirs up the big screen with names such as: Walking tall, Doom, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, 2 parts of Jumanji, Central intelligence , Pain & Gain, Skyscraper Tower…
In the eyes of millions of viewers around the world, The Rock is exactly like his nickname: a strong, resilient rock who has never disappointed fans whether as a wrestler or an actor. action in the “holy land” of Hollywood
In particular, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is most popular thanks to his role as Luke Hobbs in the popular action film series Fast & Furious . In 2019, Luke Hobbs also had a separate movie with “unjustified man” Deckard Shaw (played by Jason Statham) called Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw .
The work caused a stir at the global box office and earned up to 760.4 million USD. At the end of December, The Rock continued to land on the big screen with Jumanji: The Next Level . The work currently has sales worth 674.4 million USD and shows no signs of stopping.
Dwayne Johnson is one of the most expensive action stars in Hollywood
To date, films starring Dwayne Johnson have grossed a total of more than 3.5 billion USD in the North American market and more than 10.5 billion USD from the global box office. These telling numbers have brought The Rock’s name to the list of the most expensive stars in box office history.
Thanks to his participation in a series of popular works, the father of three has a “huge” salary ranging from several million to tens of millions of dollars (not including remuneration divided by film profits). In 2019, Forbes magazine honored Dwayne Johnson as the highest-paid actor. Time also honored the actor in the list of 100 most influential people in the world 2019.
Many viewers joke that Dwayne Johnson never seems to let his movie career rest. It’s hard for audiences to forget the name The Rock when every year he appears on the big screen in a few movies. And 2020 is no exception as the actor will soon be busy with filming schedules for The King , starting the sequel to Big Trouble in Little China , busy with the movie Red Notice and a series of new projects lined up. The 48-year-old actor has also just joined DC’s superhero universe with the blockbuster Black Adam expected to be “released” in 2021.
The famous star of Fast & Furious owns a perfect home with a beautiful wife and beautiful children
Besides his illustrious career, Dwayne Johnson’s personal life also receives attention from many fans. He experienced a broken marriage with his first wife Dany Garcia and had a daughter together. Currently, The Rock is living a perfect life with his wife Lauren Hashian and has two lovely princesses.
After 12 years together, he and his current partner just held a simple, cozy wedding in their hometown of Hawaii in August 2019. Although he is a billion-dollar star, when he leaves the screen, Dwayne Johnson is still like any other ordinary father. He spends time playing with his children, taking care of his small home and enjoying laughter-filled trips with his family.