Dwayne Johnson

• Born: May 2, 1972
• Place of Birth: Hayward, California

Dwayne Johnson is an actor and former professional wrestler. After turning to wrestling in 1996, he quickly developed into a major star. In the twenty-first century, he increasingly focused on films, becoming one of the highest-grossing actors in the world.

Actor and wrestler

Full name: Dwayne Douglas Johnson

Early Life

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, to Rocky and Ata Johnson. He was of African Canadian heritage through his father and of Samoan descent through his mother. Though he was born in Hayward, California, he traveled most of his childhood, watching his father, “Soulman” Rocky Johnson, at various wrestling matches. In his early years, he attended Richmond Road Primary School while living in Auckland, New Zealand, with his mother’s family. After returning to the United States, he attended President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, before moving to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, because of his father’s job.

In Pennsylvania, Johnson attended Freedom High School. Throughout high school, he was part of the school’s football, track and field, and wrestling teams. After high school, he was awarded a full scholarship to play football at the University of Miami. In 1991 he was part of a Miami Hurricanes team that won the national championship, though he was not a standout performer. His athletic success was in contrast to his academic performance; during his first semester, he earned a 0.7 grade point average. Johnson graduated from the university with a BS in criminology and physiology.

After college, Johnson briefly played professional football with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. However, he was cut from the team after just two months. At this point, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, he decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling.

Life’s Work

Johnson made his professional wrestling debut in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) under the name Flex Kavanah in a tag-team championship match with Brett Sawyer. In 1996, he joined the World Wrestling Federation (later known as World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE). He initially used the name Rocky Maivia—a tribute to both his parents, using his father’s first name and his mother’s maiden name. Coming into his own, Rocky took over the Nation of Domination, a professional wrestling group, and evolved into the more permanent character of the Rock (a name to which Johnson gained ownership of all rights). Upon leaving the Nation of Domination, the Rock joined another wrestling team, the Corporation, and began his lasting, well-known feud with another major star, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Eventually, the Rock was kicked out of the Corporation and wrestled independently. He soon became known as the People’s Champion, eventually claiming multiple world championship titles.

Even as he rose to wrestling superstardom in the late 1990s, Johnson began to focus his attention on pursuits beyond the ring. In 1999, he participated in a documentary about wrestling titled Beyond the Mat. The next year, he published an autobiography, The Rock Says . . ., which ranked number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list for twenty weeks. In 2000 Johnson began acting alongside his wrestling career. He soon appeared in several films, including Longshot (2001), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), The Rundown (2003), and Walking Tall (2004). The Scorpion King was a particular breakthrough, and his $5.5-million paycheck for the appearance set a Guinness World Record as the highest salary for an actor receiving top billing for the first time.

In 2004 Johnson's WWE contract concluded and he pivoted to acting full time. His film credits during this period included Be Cool (2005), Doom (2005), Gridiron Gang (2006), and The Game Plan (2007). Johnson also noted his aspiration to become a director, and began moving away from using his stage name "the Rock." Yet despite his growing success in Hollywood, his acting skills were not particularly well-received by critics. He was nearly nominated for a Razzie Award in the Worst Actor category in both 2003 and 2005, and in 2006, he did receive a Razzie nomination for his performance in Doom. Still, Johnson's popularity was such that in 2008 he was a presenter at the Academy Awards and was nominated for Favorite Movie Actor at the Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards. He concluded the decade with appearances in such generally family-friendly films as Get Smart (2008) and Race to Witch Mountain (2009).

Through the late 2000s Johnson made occasional appearances at various wrestling events, while staying out of actual matches. In March 2007, he appeared in a pretaped episode of the WWE’s Raw. One year later, in March 2008, he had the honor of inducting his father, Rocky Johnson, and grandfather, Peter Maivia, into the WWE Hall of Fame. He also made an appearance in 2009 at the tenth anniversary of SmackDown, a show that was named after one of his signature moves. Johnson then returned to WWE action in 2011 as host of WrestleMania XXVII. He notably maintained a feud with fellow wrestler John Cena over the next two years, and would continue to make occasional wrestling appearances over the following decade.

Johnson's return to wrestling paralleled his continued rise as one of the highest-grossing actors in the world. His film roles in the early 2010s included Tooth Fairy (2010), Why Did I Get Married, Too? (2010), Faster (2010), The Other Guys (2010), You Again (2010), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), and Hercules (2014). However, perhaps most notable was his debut in the hugely popular Fast and Furious franchise with the film Fast Five (2011). He would reprise his role as Luke Hobbs in the series' next three installments, Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017), cementing his place as a top action star. From 2015 to 2019, Johnson also starred in the Emmy-nominated sports comedy series Ballers. Other credits during this period included the action film San Andreas (2015), the comedy Central Intelligence (2016), with Kevin Hart; and the well-received animated Disney feature Moana (2016). The action comedy Baywatch (2017), costarring Zac Efron, was a commercial success despite being critically panned, while the fantasy adventure Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) was a major hit and also earned strong reviews.

Continuing his prolific run of big-budget productions, Johnson starred in the action films Rampage and Skyscraper in 2018. He then appeared as himself in the biographical comedy about wrestling Fighting with My Family (2019), before reprising his role as Hobbs in the Fast and Furious spin-off film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Also in 2019, he costarred in the sequel Jumanji: The Next Level. An athletic competition reality show Johnson developed and hosted, The Titan Games, ran from 2019 to 2020. He also continued to diversify his interests, debuting the Project Rock apparel line with the company Under Armour in 2016 and buying a co-ownership stake in the XFL football league in 2020, among other business ventures.

Johnson's next film was Disney's Jungle Cruise (2021), in which he starred alongside Emily Blunt. Based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name, the film received mixed reviews and was considered a box-office disappointment. That same year, Johnson also coproduced and costarred in the Netflix original action film Red Notice (2021), alongside Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. Meanwhile, he continued to establish a presence on network television with the premiere of NBC's Young Rock, a sitcom inspired by his life, in which he starred as a future version of himself. The series was positively received by critics overall and was renewed for a second and third season before the network announced its cancellation in 2023. Johnson also joined the trend of blockbuster superhero films with his lead role as the titular antihero in DC's Black Adam (2022), but that project was relatively unsuccessful both commercially and critically.

In 2023 there was media buzz surrounding a wax figure of Johnson unveiled in a French museum, which was widely criticized for portraying him with much lighter skin than in reality. After the botched figure went viral, Johnson himself announced he would contact the museum about creating a more accurate representation.

The year 2024 marked Johnson's first return in years to the wrestling ring for active competition. Having become a member of WWE's parent company's board early that year, he invested once more in training and developing his character, known as "Final Boss." His first major match took place at WrestleMania XL.

Significance

Johnson is noted for his great success as both a wrestler and an actor, which together made him one of the biggest celebrities in the world. He is considered one of the best and most iconic wrestlers in WWE history, and helped drive professional wrestling's boom in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He then became even more widely famous as a major movie star. Johnson's likeable public image and reputation for charitable work also boosted his widespread appeal and helped him earn various honors and awards over the years. In 2004, during a trip to Samoa, he was given the title of Seiuli, Son of Malietoa, by Malietoa Tanumafili II in appreciation of his service to the Samoan community. In 2008 he was presented the Horizon Award by the US Congress. The award is given to individuals who have worked toward expanding opportunities for Americans and who have set positive examples for young people through their everyday work and actions. Johnson was named to Time magazine's list of the most influential people worldwide in both 2016 and 2019.

Personal Life

Johnson married his high school sweetheart Dany Garcia in 1997. The couple had a daughter, Simone Alexandra, before divorcing in 2007. In 2019, Johnson married singer and music producer Lauren Hashian. They had two daughters: Jasmine Lia, born in 2015, and Tiana Gia, born in 2018. In 2020, Johnson confirmed that he and his wife and two children had all tested positive for COVID-19; while they had all recovered, he shared his experience to raise awareness about the potential severity of the disease.

In addition to his wrestling and acting careers, Johnson became involved in a variety of social and philanthropic ventures. In 2000, he attended both the Democratic and Republican national conventions to promote WWE’s Smackdown Your Vote! nonpartisan campaign, which urged young people to vote. In 2006 he started the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with terminally ill and at-risk children. Among many other efforts, he donated $2 million to the University of Miami’s alumni center and an additional $1 million to the University of Miami’s athletic department. In 2023, during a major strike by the primary American actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, Johnson made a financial contribution to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation that was reportedly the largest ever given to the organization.

Bibliography

Coppinger, Mike, and Marc Raimondi. "'Like Riding a Bike': Inside The Rock's Return at WrestleMania 40." ESPN, 4 Apr. 2024, www.espn.com/wwe/story/‗/id/39866325/wrestlemania-40-rock-roman-reigns-cody-rhodes-seth-rollins-how-rock-prepared-return-wwe. Accessed 31 July 2024.

"Dwayne Johnson." Forbes, www.forbes.com/profile/dwayne-johnson/?sh=30283c2c4e42. Accessed 31 July 2024.

Gorman, Jaqueline Laks. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Stevens, 2008.

Hughes, Zondra. “The Rock Talks about Race, Wrestling, and Women.” Ebony, 2001, pp. 32–36.

Jensen, Erin. "Dwayne Johnson on How His 'Forrest Gump-ian Life' Inspired NBC Sitcom 'Young Rock.'" USA Today, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/02/15/dwayne-johnson-young-rock-shows-family-version-andre-giant-moment/6735837002/. Accessed 2 Sept. 2021.

Johnson, Dwayne. "At 50, The Rock Is Stronger and More Vulnerable Than Ever." Interview by Ben Court. Men's Health, 16 Nov. 2022, www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a41822648/dwayne-johnson-the-rock-black-adam-interview/. Accessed 12 June 2023.

Johnson, Dwayne, and Joe Layden. The Rock Says. . .. Avon, 2000.

Kerr, Jeff. "Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Buys XFL for $15 Million with Partners RedBird Capital and Dany Garcia." CBS, 3 Aug. 2020, www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-buys-xfl-for-15-million-with-partners-redbird-capital-and-dany-garcia/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.

Richardson, Randi, and Drew Weisholtz. "Dwayne Johnson Responds to Criticism of Recently Unveiled Wax Figure." Today, 20 Oct. 2023, www.today.com/popculture/dwayne-johnson-wax-figure-musee-grevin-rcna121426. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.