Dwayne Johnson has always been a family man.
The Black Adam actor, who is a proud dad to daughters Simone, Jasmine and Tiana, has always been outspoken about his love for his parents, Rocky Johnson and Ata Johnson, and how they shaped the man he is today.
“I always say, if you got a good mom then you got a shot at becoming a good, caring human being,” he wrote on Instagram after revealing that he’d bought his mom another house. While his late dad offered “tough love,” Dwayne has come to appreciate their dynamic even more over time.
“Little boys by nature, look up to and idolize their old man. They want to be just like em, do whatever they do and are always looking for their approval,” he wrote in a Father’s Day tribute to his dad in 2018. “Years later as a man and father of three girls, I know that tough love, is a helluva lot better than no love at all. I’ll take it. It’s made me who I am today.”
Rocky and Ata Johnson began dating in secret before welcoming their first and only son together, Dwayne, on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California. At the time, Rocky was still married to his first wife, Una Sparks, and they officially divorced in 1978. He married Ata that same year. In 2003, Rocky and Ata divorced. Rocky, a former professional wrestler, died of a pulmonary embolism in January 2020.
So who are Dwayne Johnson’s parents? From their life lessons to the ways he’s given back to them, here’s everything to know about Rocky and Ata Johnson.
Both of them come from wrestling backgrounds
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Both Rocky and Ata are no strangers to the ring, and their history largely shaped the trajectory of Dwayne’s future as a professional wrestler.
Ata was born in Samoa to Lia Maivia, a wrestling promoter, and Lia’s first husband Sione Papali’i Fitisemanu. After Lia married “High Chief” Peter Maivia, a prominent wrestler in the Anoa’i family, Peter adopted and raised Ata. The family moved to the U.S. in the ‘70s.
Peter trained several up-and-coming wrestlers, including none other than Rocky “Soulman” Johnson. Born Wayde Douglas Bowles in Nova Scotia, Canada, Rocky began wrestling at age 16 and quickly rose to prominence.
He paired up with Tony Atlas to become the first Black wrestlers to win the WWE’s World Tag Team Championship. In 2008, Dwayne inducted his father into the WWE Hall of Fame. Along the way, Rocky fell for Peter’s daughter, Ata Maivia, and the pair began dating — despite her parents’ disapproval.
They began dating in secret
The Jumanji actor opened up about the clandestine start of his parents’ relationship on an episode of his semi-autobiographical NBC sitcom Young Rock. In the episode, he recounts that the pair met at a wrestling match, where Rocky was partnered up with Ata’s father. When her parents sensed a romance blossoming, they quickly shut it down, insisting she was not to date a wrestler. They began to see each other in secret, but they were eventually caught.
“My grandparents were FURIOUS and forbid my parents from seeing each other,” Dwayne wrote on Instagram while promoting the episode. “My mom and dad were heartbroken, BUT my mom told my dad, ‘there’s only one way they can’t stop us from being together….’ My mom got pregnant. I was born. And I became ‘the glue’ of the family.”
Dwayne has bought them both houses
The former PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive has shown his gratitude to his parents in numerous ways — including with large-scale surprises, like gifting them new homes and cars.
Revealing that he grew up living “in little apartments all across the country,” Dwayne noted that he bought his parents their first house in 1999. “Since then I always made sure my mom and dad have everything they’ll ever need,” he added.
In 2019, he bought a house for his dad. He recounted their “great” phone call on Instagram. “I said, ‘Look, you’re probably happy where you’re at … but I want to do something for you. I want to buy you a brand new home, wherever you wanna live, you can live,’ ” Dwayne recalled.
“He couldn’t believe it, he was speechless,” he continued, adding that his dad told him, “‘I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much.’ ” He also gifted his dad a car for Christmas in 2016 and in 2018.
In June 2022, the action star surprised his mom with her forever home. While it wasn’t the first he had purchased for her, she asked that it be the last.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have bought her a few homes over the years,” Dwayne wrote on Instagram. “This one is special as she’s told me over and over these past few years, ‘After a lifetime of traveling, I want this home to be my last. That’s my dream.’ ”
He posted several clips of Ata tearing up and exploring her new house, which included a special display of her vintage ukulele collection. “When I was a little boy, I hated when my mom would cry ~ these days, I’ll happily take her tears of joy,” he wrote.
Rocky and Dwayne had a “complicated relationship”
The Fighting with My Family actor hasn’t shied away from discussing the ups and downs of his relationship with his dad. “We all got daddy issues lol,” he wrote in 2018 after buying his dad a new car. “My old man was a tough MF on me.” His dad began training him at a young age, and while it was difficult for the future WWE pro, it’s something he looks back on with gratitude now.
“He’d kick my ass from one side of the gym to the other for years. I hated it when I was a kid, but grateful for it as a man,” he continued, going on to thank his dad “for the ass kickins.”
In 2016, he recalled that their training sessions were intense. “I was 13 and [he’d] say ‘If you’re gonna throw up, go outside. And if you’re gonna cry, then go home to your mother,’ ” he wrote. “I hated it then, but I embrace it now. Made a man outta me.”
Rocky died in 2020
Rocky Johnson died of a heart attack on Jan. 15, 2020, after a blood clot “broke free” and traveled to one of his lungs, according to his son. He was 75.
“WWE is saddened to learn that Rocky ‘Soul Man’ Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles), a WWE Hall of Famer, former World Tag Team Champion, and father of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, has passed away at age 75,” the company said in a statement.
Dwayne reflected on his dad’s sudden death in an Instagram post. “Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side. But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning,” he wrote. “I’m in pain. … You lived a very full, very hard, barrier-breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son.”
He later delivered his father’s eulogy, offering an emotional speech that he later posted to Instagram.
“Man, I wish I had … I wish I had one more shot,” the actor said. “I wish I had one more shot to say goodbye … to say I love you, to say thank you, but I have a feeling he’s watching. He’s listening.”
Dwayne shared a tribute to his dad on Instagram in March 2024, again lamenting that they hadn’t been able to talk things out before his death. He shared a throwback video of Rocky in the ring as a young Dwayne watched from the audience, writing in his caption, “just delivering flowers to heaven to my old man.”
“My regret in this life is that I never had a chance to say goodbye to him, because he died suddenly. I regret not reconciling our complicated father/son shit before I lost him,” he wrote. “Raised me with tough fatherly love and an even tougher hand. The more I live life, the more grateful I am for it.”
Ata has survived several life-threatening experiences
In February 2023, Ata was involved in a late-night car crash.
“It was 3 a.m. when I got that phone call,” the actor said on Instagram. “You know when my phone rings at 3 a.m. and it’s a family member, it’s not good.”
Although her car was wrecked, Ata made it out safely. Praising her resilience, Dwayne added that she has had many life-threatening experiences. “This woman has survived lung cancer, tough marriage, head on collision with a drunk driver,” he wrote. “She’s a survivor, in ways that make angels and miracles real.”
Dwayne often praises his mom
The girl dad is also a mama’s boy, as he’s proudly boasted about on social media.
Dwayne celebrated his mom’s 72nd birthday on Oct. 26, 2020, alongside his wife Lauren Hashian and their daughters, who helped Ata to blow out her candles. “She’s a survivor so every single day, she lives life to the fullest and is a shining beacon of love, joy and kindness,” he wrote at the time.
Two years later, Dwayne paid tribute to his mom once again for her 74th birthday, posting a video of her doing a traditional Samoan dance in celebration.
Calling her his “matriarch,” he wrote: “We all get such joy seeing you radiate and smile and proudly display our culture. Grace, beauty, dignity, respect and strength. You can feel the mana of our ancestors all around us.”
He also expressed his gratitude for her guidance as a grandmother, adding, “And thank you for teaching our little girls ‘the way’ thru kindness, love and strength.”
While talking to PEOPLE in April 2024, Dwayne called his mom his “biggest fan.”
“Even when I was a punk kid in high school, getting in trouble, getting arrested, she’d say, ‘I feel like the world will hear from you one day.’ This is as she’s picking me up from the police station!” he said. “The love was boundless. The support was boundless.”
