We have a WWE clock in our garage that my husband has had for at least eight years. Every once in while when I am coming in from the car, I heard The Rock say “Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?”
In case you haven’t noticed, what The Rock is cooking up is a new image for himself. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has gone from WWE superstar to movie star in a small amount of time and very successfully, I might add. He is even getting a new name – his old one. If you look at the billing for his first feature film, The Mummy Returns, you will see he is billed as The Rock. But, as time goes on, he slowly became Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and eventually hopes to leave that whole Rock thing behind. It is because he is ashamed of his WWE past? No, he just realizes that a certain expectation comes with that name.
After success for his small role in The Mummy Returns, he was cast as The Scorpion King in a movie by the same title. While it did respectably at the box office, that franchise went nowhere. Someone in Hollywood must have believed in Dwayne because he received the highest salary paid to an actor for his first starring role – $5.5 million.
Next up was a role in The Rundown, an action feature. After all, what role would a former WWE superstar fill the best – that of action hero! That was followed up with the 2004 remake Walking Tall. Again, while not a blockbuster, Dwayne was proving he could bring in the crowds. Yet, he took an unexpected turn in his next role. In Be Cool, Dwayne showed that he could be more than an action star by playing a gay bodyguard, giving us a glimpse of comedy. Yet he held his own against acting heavyweights like John Travolta and Uma Thurman.
After that, he returned to action with Doom, but it fizzled at the box office. With the Gridiron Gang, Dwayne started to move a bit towards more family friendly films. Yes, it was about juvenile delinquents, but he wasn’t an action hero in this one and while it had some humorous moments, it wasn’t really comedy either. It was the inspiring story of troubled kids who were given a second chance and gained self-confidence through learning to play footfall.
Stay tune for part II of “Dwayne Johnson Reinvents Himself.”