“ When we returned home, the door was locked and a foreclosure notice was posted. My mother cried and was extremely depressed… ”Where will we live? What should we do now?”
“ Her words that day made my heart ache. And I told myself: I will do anything, everything I can, to never see my mother like that, to never be kicked out of the house again! ”.
This is a confession from the bottom of my heart about the difficult childhood days of Dwayne Johnson – The Rock – A giant with assets of nearly 320 million USD – one of the action stars who make good money. best in Hollywood. No one expected that a past full of tears and torment had trained him every day, helping him become stronger and more courageous. At the age of 47, Dwayne has participated in nearly 40 film works and owns 6 music records; More specifically, most of the works with his participation have achieved billions of dollars in revenue. With an Instagram account of more than 151 million followers and 13.1 million followers on Twitter, fans began to pass along stories about the private life, life and career of the guy nicknamed “The Rock”. ” This…
Dark past
Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, the third generation in a family with a wrestling tradition. His father, Mr. Rocky Johnson, was the world’s first famous African-American wrestling champion. His mother is the daughter of a wrestler. His maternal grandfather – also a half-Samoan chief – was the first to pursue this passion. Even his grandmother Lia Maivia is one of the few people who specializes in organizing women’s wrestling. Johnson inherited the big gene from his family and soon had a height that surpassed his peers. It is this and his older face that makes the students at school not dare to play with Johnson. However, in contrast to the previous glory, his family still had to continuously move house 13 times to save people. Dad was determined to pursue his studies, dragging Dwayne along with him – along with schools, friends who had not yet had time to bond… suddenly had to separate. He is isolated and alienated – and at the end of the day, still unaware of true friendship. The only people he’s friends with are street thugs; They are ready to drag him into mischief, wherever they are, whenever they want. Associating with these friends, Johnson gradually became a thorn in the eyes of neighbors and local police.
As a matter of course, his family’s unstable living situation led to many painful losses later on for him. His father was unemployed, and his mother, during many periods of confusion and deadlock, attempted suicide. Dwayne fought more and became an angry person. Ultimately, the family’s financial bankruptcy forced Dwayne Johnson down a “dark” path when he was just a teenager.
“ In the Waikiki area there are a few high-end stores such as Prada, Chanel, Gucci, Armani, jewelry stores. There are many wealthy tourists who come to shop in Waikiki. We will target their money, jewelry and clothes and then sell them for the best price possible “…. Before realizing the wrong path they had chosen, Dwayne and his gang went undercover. deep into many days of “sin” without end… He – with a bad past, had to consider the police station as his home, a place for him to stay overnight, a place for him to think back about the difficulties The challenges ahead, where he realizes – becoming a thief will not bring him to any peaceful shore…
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson said: ” I didn’t want to do anything anymore at the age of 14. I cried continuously until my tears dried up. I remember my mother kneeling down and crying because she didn’t know where we would be or what we would do. Then, when I saw my mother trying to find a job to rent a new house, I decided to do something “… After moments of extreme pain and torment – something that seemed too much for a child to bear. 14 years old… In the end, the path Johnson chose was to train himself to have perfect muscles, and began to want to develop his abilities and strengths, with an iron will!
The dream of a rugby superstar and a turning point in life
When Johnson was 16 years old, he was 1m93 tall and weighed 102kg. He enrolled at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, where he found the first teacher who introduced him to the path of rugby. The teenager’s rebellion created a fateful meeting between Dwayne and Jody Cwik…
” He shook my hand. I’ll never forget that handshake and he said: ‘I want you to do something for me. I want you to go out and play rugby for me’. And I went out, playing rugby for Jody Cwik. He was my coach, and also my second father “…
While Johnson quickly developed in his rugby career as a defender. His life also began to improve. “ My thought process started to change. That’s when I started thinking about goals and what I wanted to achieve .
After graduating from high school, Johnson received a scholarship to play football at the University of Miami. He brought glory to Miami University in 1991 when he excellently won the national football championship. But here, a big problem in The Rock’s college football career began with the appearance of Warren Sapp – a famous rugby player. Dwayne Johnson was gradually pushed to the bench and his appearances became less and less. Johnson graduated from Miami in 1995 with a Bachelor of Criminological Studies, but the young man wasn’t ready to give up on his dream of playing football. He eventually joined the Calgary Stampede as a reserve defenseman but was fired two months before the end of the season.
One failure after another, his dream of becoming a professional footballer – earning a six-digit salary, buying a house for his mother – all of it, went up in smoke. Destitute and lost, he had to go to sleep in the streets, huddling in a car next to a landfill. Not only that, his love life also fell apart, his only girlfriend left in vain. Poverty stuck with him for a long time, there were times when he only had a tattered $7 in his pocket…
“ My dreams, defeated again , ” he once revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. “ At that time for me, without rugby, my future felt like it was crushed. It was the worst time in life .”
Amidst so many thoughts, Johnson’s last chance was only to become a wrestler – the profession that his father, grandfather and many relatives – had pursued and achieved success. At first, his father was against this choice because he did not want his son to suffer constant pain and a life of wandering on tour, like his grandfather did. However, the son’s determination and will, along with his own feelings about his own unfinished dream… he changed his mind and agreed to train him.
Johnson first appeared in the WWF ( World Wrestling Federation, now WWE) in 1996, fighting under a name that was a portmanteau of his father’s and grandfather’s nicknames: “Rocky Maivia”. And as fate would have it, the first opponent he had to fight was Brooklyn Brawler – his father’s first opponent. Success quickly came to Rocky Maiva when he defeated and won the championship from Triple H on Monday Night Raw. However, the “excruciating” competition schedule caused a knee injury for Johnson. After his injury, he became a member of “Nation of Domination” along with Faarooq, D’Lo Brown and Kama. And from then on, the third person of Dwayne Johnson was born.
In August 1997, Dwayne Johnson returned to the ring after injury, and he declared himself “The Rock”. The Rock was active from 1996 to 2004, winning the WWE 8 times. He is one of the famous young wrestlers who is loved and admired by fans; became a living legend of the American wrestling community with 17 championships. The high level of interaction and entertainment he brings to the audience helps The Rock be dubbed “The People’s Champion”. A house, or a gift for his parents, was no longer his problem… However, what The Rock wanted at that time was not just a wrestler… He wanted to become a star. Hollywood stars.
Hollywood – Career – A unique The Rock
Hollywood has repeatedly given acting opportunities to professional wrestlers who want to “change the world” and become screen heroes, such as John Cena, Dave Bautista, Kevin Nash… But perhaps, only wrestlers have won 17 championships. The Rock is making a big difference. After several appearances on the television show Saturday Night Live , Dwayne Johnson starred in his first film ” The Mummy Returns ” (2001) as the villain Scorpion King. Johnson’s charisma is shown through his salary of 5.5 million USD even though he only appeared for a few seconds. To this day, this is still the Guinness record for salary for a first role.
During his first decade in Hollywood, Dwayne Johnson was primarily known as “the movie wrestler.” Producers focus on muscles but do not appreciate the actors’ acting. He has had certain commercial success in comedy or action film projects, but feels he can do better. In the Hollywood Reporter , the actor confided: “ Everything is very difficult. But I understand I need a change . “
However, her beautiful body, bright smile, cool face, cinematic temperament and especially smart choices are what help the legendary former wrestler become a true silver screen star. His name is associated with explosive action movies with eye-catching, epic fighting scenes such as the Fast & Furious series (5, 6 and 7) , Journey 2: The Mysterious Island , Hercules , San Andreas , Jumanji series … His roles are often associated with rescue missions, fighting, climbing, and at the same time “win points” thanks to his natural, cheerful acting.
If in the live-action film, The Rock’s name is cemented in the Fast & Furious series , then in the animated film, the voice role of the demigod Maui in Moana is one of his impressive roles. A fun-loving tattooed demigod who fights tirelessly and always laughs seems to be portrayed specifically for Dwayne Johnson.
Instead of choosing to be just a muscle-bound wrestler ready to fight in action movies. The Rock chose for himself an acting path that is more diverse and transformative than his predecessors. He appeared with a contrasting image as Sean William Scott in “ The Run Down ” or as an interesting gay guy in “Be Cool ”. The Rock also constantly “friendly” his own image by adding family films to his acting repertoire such as the role of the funny tooth fairy in ” The Tooth Fairy ” or the rich stepfather. sentiment in “ Journey to the Center of the Earth 2 ”.
He is also the most versatile entertainment star in Hollywood, having dabbled in many fields and achieved a lot of success . In 2000, The Rock published a memoir about his life revolving around the events that took place before he embarked on an acting career. The book immediately became a best seller voted by the New York Times magazine for several weeks in a row.
Most especially, the biggest success in The Rock’s career is the hit movie series ” Fast and Furious” . Since the actor played special agent Luke Hobbs in the fifth part ” Fast Five ” (2011), the series’ revenue has grown rapidly. Part five reached a revenue of up to 626 million USD, nearly double the figure of 363 million USD of the previous part. Fast and Furious 6 reached 789 million USD, while part 7 reached 1.5 billion USD. Part 8 of the movie also brought huge revenue for this star. Not only that, Dwayne J also had the opportunity to reunite with fans in the Fast and Furious spin-off ” Hobbs and Shaw ” on August 2 and received countless love and support from fans.. .
From a bad guy, he is now considered “the synthesis of the action superstars of the 1990s: the will of Bruce Willis, the muscles of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the passionate heart of Sylvester Stallone”. The actor is the top choice of film studios for the image of an action hero, reflected in his highest salary in 2016, surpassing a series of big stars such as Robert Downey Jr, Mark Walhberg,… The number of films that The Rock participated in countless numbers.
Talking about other investments, Johnson is currently running Seven Bucks Productions Company with his ex-wife Dany Garcia since 2012. In early 2016, The Rock joined hands with Under Armor to become the brand’s representative, and at the same time cooperated to launch their own line of footwear and sports apparel. Not only that, highly aware of social responsibility, in 2016, he founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation – a charity organization to help terminally ill children…. With success from ministries blockbuster movies and profits from investments in different fields, The Rock is expected to earn even more millions in the coming years.
Superstar with a warm heart
Even though he is a million dollar star, Johnson never shows an arrogant attitude. At every press conference, he stayed to take photos and give autographs to fans.Instead of boasting about his luxurious life on social networks, the actor often shares his daily thoughts about work, life, or motivates him with pictures of his workouts at three o’clock in the morning. The closeness helps Johnson get closer to the hearts and trust of fans. On his personal Facebook, he revealed the most meaningful quote to him: “Being important is great, but being a good person is more important.”
Moreover, although on the outside he looks “aggressive” and tattooed… Dwayne Johnson on the inside is a loving father, a gallant man, with few scandals. He was married to Dany Garcia and has a daughter. But the two remained close after going their separate ways. The Rock also has 2 more daughters with Lauren Hashian and is always known as a man who loves his family very much… During his wife’s pregnancy, he not only took care of every little thing but also Directly present in the delivery room to encourage and help his wife during labor. Both times he went through labor, never once did The Rock leave his wife alone. And with each birth, the love and respect he has for his wife is stronger than ever.
” Believe me because I have gone through this path. When you are with the woman who gave birth to your children, and go through difficult moments like walking through a sea of fire, there are things that will help you. can’t go wrong “… For Johnson, if you want to understand the most wonderful moment that life gives, watch the birth of your child. It can completely change your life From then on, the respect and admiration that men have for a woman will become boundless…
Conclusion
Having gone through a dark and rebellious childhood, Dwayne Johnson is an image of finding and pursuing one’s dreams. From a rugby player to the king of the American wrestling industry, then becoming a million-dollar actor in the film capital of Hollywood. The Rock has never shown signs of stopping and accepting his own safety limits… Does Dwayne’s success stem from the fact that he always maintains his commitment to being the “hardest worker” for till now? Today, at the age of 44, he still wakes up at 4 a.m. to exercise for one reason only: “I want the difficulties of the past to be the motivation for me to work today.”
As for you, right now, ask yourself: What is your motivation in this life?
If one side is a cliff and the other is a deep abyss, don’t consider it an obstacle or challenge that causes current difficulties, but use it as motivation to push forward. ” Don’t wait for a door to open. If you can’t find one, create your own door!”.
As Dwayne said: “I grew up in a place where the doors were closed and the windows didn’t open. The only thing I have are the cracks. I will do everything to overcome those cracks. I will scratch, tear, bite, push, kick… Now the opportunity is here. The door was wide open and it was as big as a garage!”
