A former professional wrestler who now works as an actor, Dwayne Johnson is best known for his role in the fantasy adventure movie “The Mummy Returns.” Before entering the world of movies, Johnson was a very successful professional wrestler known by the ring name “The Rock.” It is hardly surprising that he became well-known in wrestling given that he was born into a family of wrestlers. He has always been athletic and attracted toward sports, and while he was a school student, he used to take part in numerous sporting events. He participated in the school’s track and field and wrestling teams in addition to playing football for his high school.
He obtained a full scholarship from the University of Miami to play defensive lineman since he was a promising football player. He had dreams of becoming a famous professional football player, but an injury put an end to those dreams. Despite his disappointment, he chose to become a wrestler instead of letting this occurrence demotivate him. His father, who is also a professional wrestler, started teaching the boy. He eventually made his WWF debut and became a well-known wrestler. He started getting offers from Hollywood companies because of his reputation and rugged good looks, and he launched his acting career with the film “The Mummy Returns.”
Quick Facts of Dwayne Johnson
Nick Name: The Rock, The Brahma Bull, The Great One, The People’s Champion, The Corporate Champion
Age: 50 Years,
Family:
Spouse/Ex-: Dany Garcia, Lauren Hashian (M. 2019), Dany Garcia (M. 1997; Div. 2007)
Father: Rocky Johnson
Mother: Ata Johnson
Siblings: Wanda Bowles
Children: Jasmine Johnson, Simone Alexandra Johnson, Tiana Gia Johnson
Born Country: United States
Height: 6’5″ (196 cm)
Ancestry: American New Zealander, Canadian American, Irish American
U.S. State: California
Childhood & Early Life
On May 2, 1972, he was given the name Dwayne Douglas Johnson in Hayward, California, the United States. His mother, Ata Maivia, was a wrestler’s daughter, and his father, Rocky Johnson, was a professional wrestler. His unique appearance is explained by the fact that his mother is Samoan and his father is Black Nova Scotian.
Prior to moving back to the United States and enrolling at Freedom High School, he briefly lived in New Zealand and attended the Richmond Road Primary School.
He was a physically fit teen who took part in a variety of sports. He participated in track and field, wrestling, and football for the school.
His favourite sport was football, and the University of Miami offered him a full scholarship to play defensive lineman there. But an injury put an end to his aspirations of playing football. He earned a Bachelor of General Studies degree in criminology and physiology from the university in 1995.
He made the decision to become a wrestler and began by learning from his father.
Career
In 1996, Dwayne Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia. The following year, on Monday Night Raw, he defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley to capture the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
He subsequently adopted the ring name “The Rock” and became a well-known professional wrestler with a number of championships to his credit. He became highly popular among female fans thanks to his wrestling skills and rugged good looks, and soon he began receiving requests to perform on both the little and the big screen.
He hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 2000 after making an appearance in a music video. In the opening scene of the 2001 movie “The Mummy Returns,” he made his acting debut as The Scorpion King.
Johnson played Mathayus in the movie’s 2002 spin-off, “The Scorpion King,” which was made possible by the success of the original. He reportedly received US $5.5 million for this film, which went on to have a mediocre level of popularity.
In the 2007 family comedy movie “The Game Plan,” he played the divorced father Joe Kingman. Despite receiving unfavourable reviews from critics, the film premiered at No. 1 and made $22,950,971 in its first weekend.
He starred in the 2009 science fiction movie Race to Witch Mountain, which was adapted from Alexander Key’s book Escape to Witch Mountain. The movie also debuted at No. 1 and was a great success at the box office.
In 2011, Dwayne Johnson played the role of Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs in the fifth instalment of The Fast and the Furious movie series, titled “Fast Five.” In its first weekend, the movie brought in over $86 million, making it one of Johnson’s biggest box office successes.
In 2013, the sixth film in the Fast and the Furious series, “Fast & Furious 6,” he returned to the character of Luke Hobbs. He shared the screen with John Ortiz, Paul Walker, Gina Carano, and Vin Diesel. The movie earned nearly $780 million globally, ranking No. 50 on the list of all-time highest-grossing movies.
He made an appearance in “Furious 7,” the seventh film in the Fast and the Furious series, which was released in 2015. Like the first two films in the trilogy, this one too proved a box office success and was praised by critics for its action sequences.
In 2016, Dwayne Johnson voiced the Polynesian deity Maui in the Disney animated picture Moana in addition to starring in the action-comedy “Central Intelligence.”
He returned to the character in 2017’s ‘The Fate of the Furious,’ the eighth film in the Fast and the Furious series. He appeared in two other blockbuster films that year, Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
He appeared in the action movies “Rampage” and “Skyscraper” in 2018.
In 2019, Jumanji: The Next Level stars Dwayne Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson produced and starred in the HBO series Ballers from 2015 to 2019. The show was named the most watched comedy on HBO in the previous six years.
Major Works
In the Fast and the Furious film series, Dwayne Johnson is best known for playing Luke Hobbs. He has garnered high accolades for his acting abilities, and all of the movies in the franchise in which he is a star have been huge box office successes.
Awards & Achievements
For the film “The Mummy Returns,” he won the Teen Choice Awards in the category “Film – Choice Sleazebag” in 2001.
He received the Action Star of the Year Award at the 2012 CinemaCon Awards.
For “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” he received the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Male Butt Kicker in 2013.
Personal & Family Life
On May 3, 1997, Dwayne Johnson wed his longtime girlfriend Dany Garcia. Their daughter is named Simone Alexandra. After ten years of marriage, they made the mutual decision to divorce in 2007.
Johnson began dating Lauren Hashian soon after divorcing Dany Garcia. While filming for “The Game Plan” in 2006, he first got to know her. Jasmine Johnson, their first child, was born in December 2015, and Tiana Gia Johnson, their second child, was born in April 2018.
On August 18, 2019, Dwayne Johnson wed Lauren Hashian in Hawaii.
Dwayne Johnson Films
- Fast Five (2011)
(Crime, Thriller, Action)
- Furious 6 (2013)
(Thriller, Crime, Action)
- Furious Seven (2015)
(Action, Thriller, Crime)
- The Fate of the Furious (2017)
(Adventure, Crime, Thriller, Action)
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
(Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy)
- Gridiron Gang (2006)
(Sport, Drama, Crime)
- Shazam! (2019)
(Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy)
- The Rundown (2003)
(Adventure, Action, Comedy, Thriller)
- Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
(Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy)
- Faster (2010)
(Thriller, Drama, Action, Crime)
Awards
People’s Choice Awards
2017 Favorite Premium Series Actor Winner
2016 Favorite Premium Series Actor Winner
