Johnson, Dwayne

Dwayne Johnson, byname The Rock, (born May 2, 1972, Hayward, California, U.S.), American professional wrestler and actor whose charisma and athleticism made him a success in both fields.

Johnson was born into a wrestling family. His maternal grandfather, “High Chief” Peter Maivia, emerged on the professional scene in the 1960s and ’70s. Johnson’s father, “Soulman” Rocky Johnson, worked the American regional wrestling circuit and boxed; in 1974 he was a sparring partner for George Foreman, then preparing for “the Rumble in the Jungle” with Muhammad Ali. However, the younger Johnson initially preferred the gridiron to the mat. He was a standout high-school athlete, and he played on the 1991 NCAA Championship football team at the University of Miami (Bachelor of General Studies, 1995). After injuries cut short his career in the Canadian Football League, he turned to wrestling.

Gifted with a remarkable combination of size, speed, and agility as well as impeccable microphone skills, Johnson made his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut in 1996 as Rocky Maivia, a name that paid tribute to both his father and his grandfather. He was heavily promoted as a “face” (crowd favourite), and, after just a few months of exposure, Johnson captured the WWF Intercontinental title. The aggressive push triggered a backlash from fans, however, and subsequent story lines saw the Rocky Maivia persona sidelined in favour of The Rock, an unapologetic “heel” (“bad guy”). The turn led to increased popularity. The Rock engaged in a series of high-profile feuds with the biggest stars in the WWF and captured the first of several world championship titles in 1998.

The brash charm that Johnson exhibited in his in-ring monologues translated smoothly to the silver screen, and his appearance in The Mummy Returns (2001) signaled a new stage in his career. Although Johnson was neither the first nor the last professional wrestler to be courted by Hollywood, he was easily the most successful. He followed “The Mummy Returns” with The Scorpion King (2002) and The Rundown (2003). In 2004 he left the ring to turn his attention to acting full-time.

Johnson’s later films included testosterone-fueled action fare such as G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Pain & Gain (2013), and four installments of The Fast and the Furious series—Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017). He also appeared in the family entertainments The Game Plan (2007), Tooth Fairy (2010), and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012). Johnson then was cast as the titular Greek mythological figure in Hercules (2014). He played a firefighter dealing with a catastrophic earthquake in the action film San Andreas (2015), and in 2016 he starred opposite comedian Kevin Hart in the buddy comedy Central Intelligence.

Dwayne Johnson

Johnson later provided the voice of a demigod in Moana (2016), an animated film by Disney. In 2017 he starred in Baywatch, a comedy based on the TV series about lifeguards, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which was adapted from a children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg. The next year Johnson portrayed a father who goes to great heights to save his family from a burning building in the action movie Skyscraper. He then starred in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, a spin-off from the long-running franchise, and Jumanji: The Next Level (both 2019), a sequel to the 2017 film. In 2021 he starred with Emily Blunt in Jungle Cruise, an action comedy based on a theme park ride. That year Johnson also appeared as an FBI profiler chasing art thieves in Red Notice. His credits from 2022 included Black Adam, a DC Comics superhero movie.

Johnson appeared in various television projects. In 2013 he hosted the reality television series The Hero, and he later starred in Ballers (2015–19), an HBO comedy series about a former football player who becomes a financial adviser to other sports stars. Johnson then created and hosted the reality TV series The Titan Games (2019– ), which featured a variety of athletic competitions. He later appeared in Young Rock (2021– ), a comedy series about his life.

In 2011 Johnson appeared in the ring for the first time in seven years, sparking a feud with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star John Cena that culminated in a main-event match at WrestleMania XXVIII in April 2012. His appearance contributed to the event’s unparalleled success: with more than 1.3 million pay-per-view orders and $67 million in global sales, WrestleMania XXVIII was WWE’s top-grossing pay-per-view broadcast. In January 2013 Johnson captured his eighth professional wrestling title, but he surrendered it less than three months later after losing to Cena in another highly publicized bout.