Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American and Canadian actor, producer and semi-retired professional wrestler, signed with WWE. Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, winning a national championship on the 1991 Miami Hurricanes football team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led him to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth2 May 1972
CityHayward, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I'm a long way from being evicted [at the age of 14], but I'll never forget it. I'll never forget the feeling. I'll never forget my mom crying and I'll never forget the thought I had: 'Well the only thing I can do is just go build my body,' because the men who were successful that I knew of - Stallone, Arnold, Bruce Willis - they were men of action.
Great success breeds a lot of things, including sequels.
In my mind at that time, at 14, the men who were successful were Stallone and Schwarzenegger and guys like that - Harrison Ford - who were these men of action. I was like, "Okay, they're successful, they're not getting evicted, they built their bodies - I'm gonna go build my body." It was like that.
For me it came from the material. It was so well written and brought the opportunity to work with great actors. And of course the opportunity to mince about was an added element that I wanted to take advantage of!
I would just say that I could share what served me, which was trying to find the best material that I could possibly find and make it better. When other celebrities and sports stars, or people that are successful in another area, cross over into movies, they're always encouraged to bring that same tenacity and that same relentless drive that you had to make it. You have to apply that to acting.
Success at anything will always come down to this: focus & effort. And we control both.
Think back 5 yrs ago. Think of where you're at today. Think ahead 5 yrs and what you want to accomplish. Be Unstoppable.
If something stands between you and your success - move it. Never be denied.
Success isn't overnight. It's when everyday you get a little better than the day before. It all adds up.
Be the person that when your feet touch the floor in the morning the devil says, "awe s***.. they're up".
In 1995 I had $7 bucks in my pocket and knew two things: I'm broke as hell and one day I won't be. You Can Achieve Anything!
As you step every day and we're going to see challenges, we going to see failures, we should certainly learn from the failures and be gracious with our successes too as well.
But being on location and shooting, whether its in Puerto Rico or Atlanta, it always reminds me of how really cool my job can be. Interacting with the fans is one of the best parts of it.
I always keep moments that were defining for me in my past and challenged me in my past - from getting evicted out of my apartment when I was 14 years old, to being cut from the CFL [Canadian Football League] and only having 7 bucks in my pocket, to bouts with depression - I keep moments like that very close to me because it continues to be great motivators for me. It helps keep me grounded, and it's a good reminder of how things work, and I never want to go back to that.