What is unknown about the life of Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson, nicknamed The Rock, is a former professional wrestler and one of the world's highest-paid actors.
Dwayne Johnson was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. His mother is Ata Johnson and his father is Rocky Johnson. Johnson is half African-American and half Samoan. His grandfather is professional wrestler Peter Maivia. Likewise, his father is also a professional wrestler. Johnson, who spent his childhood in New Zealand due to his father's business trips, returned to America with his family during high school.
While in high school, he was signed to the school's football team and soon became one of the team's top players. He was also a member of the school's track and field and wrestling teams, in addition to playing football. Like the school's soccer team, the track and field and wrestling teams have competed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC), a high school sports conference known for being among the best in the country. EPC's wrestling programs have been named among the best in the country by WIN magazine and described as "among the best in the sport for nearly three decades". Johnson soon found himself facing off against some of the nation's most accomplished high school wrestlers.
He accepted an offer of a full athletics scholarship from the University of Miami, the football program. In 1991, he joined the Miami Hurricane's first team as a defensive player. Continuing his school at the same time, Johnson graduated from the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami in 1995.
Wanting to become a professional wrestler like his father in the future, Johnson became a world-renowned entertainer by wrestling in WWF/E between 1996 and 2004. By 2001, he was the first to win the WWE Championship for the sixth time. He became champion 16 times in total. He became very famous for the phrase "if you smell what the rock is cooking", which he used a lot during his wrestling years, and for the movement of raising one eyebrow called the people's eyebrow.
Dwayne Johnson, who had previously come to the ring with nicknames such as "Rocky Maivia", "The Blue Chipper", began to call himself "The Rock" from March 1997 after he won the Intercotinental belt for the first time by defeating Triple H in February 13, 1997.
However, Dwayne Johnson, who focused on his Hollywood career after that, slowly left the world of wrestling for filming after 2002. In 2004, he announced that his contract with WWE was ending and focused on his film career. During this period, he became one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE history with his interviews and personality.
He made his film debut in 1999 with the movie "Beyond the Mat". He got a small role in the movie "The Mummy: Returns" when he caught the attention of the producers. The "Scorpion King" character he played in this movie attracted so much attention that "The Scorpion King" was filmed in 2002 and he accepted the offer for the lead without thinking. And he earned a Guinness World Record for the highest salary an actor earned in his first lead role.
The success he achieved with this film was instrumental in his decision to quit wrestling. Johnson acted in many movies after quitting wrestling. He acted in the films The Rundown (2003) and Walking Tall (2004) respectively. He later appeared in the films Gridiron Gang (2006), Reno 911!: Miami (2007), and Southland Tales (2006).
Johnson's first major box office success came in 2011 when he portrayed Luke Hobbs in Fast Five (2011), making it the seventh highest-grossing film of 2011. In 2013, he starred as Marvin F. Hinton / Roadblock in GI Joe: Retaliation. He was subsequently best known for reprising the role of Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious 6 (2013). In the same year, he acted in the movie “Pain & Gain” with Mark Wahlberg.
Johnson starred as the title character in Hercules (2014). And he reprized the role of Luke Hobbs in the sequel, Furious 7 (2015). In 2016, Johnson had the lead voice role in the Disney animated movie Moana, in which he voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui. He reprized the role of Luke Hobbs in The Fate of the Furious, released in 2017.
Johnson starred in two more blockbuster films that year. These are Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. In 2018, he also appeared in action movies called Rampage and Skyscraper. Johnson's role in the Fast & Furious franchise continued with Hobbs & Shaw, starring Johnson and Jason Statham. Subsequently, Johnson reprized his role as Bravestone in Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).
Johnson starred alongside Emily Blunt in The Walt Disney Company's Jungle Cruise in 2021. Cast in August 2015, the movie was based on the theme park ride of the same name. Also in 2021, Johnson starred in Netflix's Red Notice, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. The movie, starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, began shooting in the fall of 2019.
Most recently, Dwayne Johnson starred as Black Adam in the popular video game Fortnite Battle Royale, where he voiced the character known as The Foundation, and again on October 21, 2022.
Private life
Johnson first met University of Miami student Dany Garcia in the early 1990s. The couple got married on May 3, 1997. On August 14, 2001, their daughter Simone was born. On June 1, 2007, Johnson and Garcia announced their amicable separation, and their divorce was finalized in May 2008.
Johnson fell in love with Lauren Hashian, the daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. And they got married on August 18, 2019 in Hawaii. The couple has two daughters: Jasmine and Tiana. Johnson and Hashian live in Los Angeles.
In February 2020, WWE announced that Johnson's daughter Simone had begun training at the WWE Performance Center, making her the first fourth generation WWE wrestler. On May 16, Johnson announced that he had signed with WWE, adding that his ring name would be Ava Raine in May 2022.