The Rock on the WWE and Hollywood

In a recent interview with British tabloid, The Sun, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson spoke about the transition from working with the WWE to becoming an actor in Hollywood.

On first getting into acting,and why he wanted to be one:

"Ten years ago I knew that I wanted to be a good actor as I wound down my wrestling career. There is a great amount of acting in wrestling and wrestling is a great form of entertainment. For me that training ground was really invaluable because I did not go to school for acting. I went to school for football and studied criminology. I knew it was going to take time and 10 years went by pretty quickly.”

On his father’s reaction to the movie ‘The Wrestler’:

"He didn't take it very well. We lived the life that you saw in the movie, The Wrestler. That essentially was my dad. The character that Mickey Rourke played so wonderfully was my dad. So when I graduated from college and had an opportunity to play pro football, naturally it was easy for my father to say he did not want me to wrestle. He had nothing to show from a wrestling career. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment and he did not want that life for me. But instinctively I thought I had something to offer that world of entertainment. It took a little of convincing him but eventually we worked together. But being a parent I now understand where my dad was coming from."

His life before the entertainment business:

"I had a very checkered past. I got into trouble a lot and had multiple arrests. For a lot of years I struggled to stay on the right path. I had multiple arrests by the time that I was 17. The last time I was arrested, my parents came down to the police station to get me. My parents were struggling at that time, even to put food on the table. That was a lot of stress at that time and I was adding to it. When they came to the police station I remember their disappointment. For years the disappointment had never bothered me but for some reason this time the disappointment in their eyes moved me. And that was when I realized that I was causing a lot of pain for my parents and I did not want to continue to do that.“

Source: www.ewrestlingnews.com

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Comments

1. Comment #1

   Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

   Posted by LS on Friday, August 21, 2009

2. Comment #2

   Dwayne's father died in 1992 how can his father have reacted towards The Wrestler?

   Posted by Fontaine on Friday, August 21, 2009

3. Comment #3

   What are you talking about, Dwayne's dad is still kicking around, I think you got some people mixed up.

   Posted by Gravedigger on Friday, August 21, 2009

4. Comment #4

   Fontaine, his GRANDFATHER died. His dad was just inducted in the HOF last year and is still alive.

   Posted by on Saturday, August 22, 2009

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