Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson's cousin Tanoai Reed works as his stunt double in many of his films.

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Dwayne Johnson has a fear of spiders.

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Not only was Dwayne Johnson's father, Rocky Johnson, a wrestler; his grandfather, three uncles and six cousins (one of them adopted) were also involved in wrestling.

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Dwayne Johnson holds the naming rights to "The Rock" (including logos, phrases and so on). The rights to the name "The Rock" previously belonged to WWE, Inc. (which is the main reason Vince McMahon served as an executive producer on some of Rock's films).

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Dwayne Johnson's father, a Canadian native, is black and of Black Nova Scotian descent, born in Amherst, Nova Scotia (his father's ancestors were African Americans who moved to Canada). Dwayne's mother is of Samoan descent.

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The $5.5 million salary Dwayne Johnson received for The Scorpion King (2002) earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records; it was the highest salary ever paid to any actor receiving top billing for the first time.

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Dwayne Johnson was Tim Burton's second choice for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), which went to Johnny Depp.

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When Daniel Craig retired from the 007 series, Dwayne Johnson expressed his desire to play James Bond. Dwayne's grandfather, Peter Fanene Maivia, appeared as a Bond villain in You Only Live Twice (1967).

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As a high school student, Dwayne Johnson had great difficulty making friends because of his cocky demeanor (6' 4" / 225 lbs.) and mustache, not unlike Johnny Depp's character in 21 Jump Street (1987), which led his fellow students to suspect he was an undercover police officer.

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Dwayne Johnson was good friends with the late actor Michael Clarke Duncan.

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Dwayne Johnson's ex-wife, Dany Garcia, was his manager until 2022, when her role was redefined as "strategic advisor."

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After succeeding in the film industry, Dwayne Johnson achieved his top "to do" goal and bought his parents a house, a luxury they had never known until then. His first major personal passion was buying a Rolex watch.

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In 2017, Johnson revealed that the character Maui in the exceptionally animated Moana (2016) was partly inspired by his late grandfather, Peter Fanene Maivia. Maivia was a legendary Samoan wrestler in his time and even appeared in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967). He died of cancer in 1982, when Johnson was 10 years old.

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In 2003, Johnson got a large tattoo covering much of his chest and left arm. The tattoo is a partial Pe'a, an intricate tattoo traditionally worn by men in Samoan culture. Johnson said completing his tattoo took 60 hours and that it tells the story of his ancestors and his own life. It resembles the tattoo on his animated character Maui in Moana (2016).

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While filming The Scorpion King (2002), Dwayne Johnson accidentally struck Michael Clarke Duncan during a fight scene. Duncan leaned forward too far to throw a punch and his chin hit The Rock's elbow.

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On June 19, 2008, Dwayne Johnson was honored in Washington, D.C. with the Horizon Award and the Congressional Award. The Horizon Award is a special award given by the United States Congress Joint Leadership and the Congressional Award Board. The Horizon Award is presented to individuals from the private sector who have contributed to expanding opportunities for all Americans through their personal contributions and who, through their achievements in life, set extraordinary examples for young people.

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Dwayne Johnson is a published author.

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Jacob O'Connor, a 10-year-old boy from Michigan, managed to save his little brother's life using what he had seen Johnson's character do in "San Andreas," in which Johnson plays a search-and-rescue doctor. When O'Connor saw his 2-year-old brother fall into their grandmother's pool, he immediately pulled the child out and began giving him the chest compressions he had learned from The Rock. Johnson has since called the boy a hero.

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Dwayne Johnson played his own father, Rocky Johnson, in That Wrestling Show (1999).

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Every film Dwayne Johnson has appeared in since 2016 has been produced by his own company, Seven Bucks Productions. The company takes its name from the amount of money he has said was in his wallet when he was cut from the Canadian Football League before he began wrestling.

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In an interview with Entertainment Magazine, Johnson said he no longer wants to be known as "The Rock." Since retiring from wrestling, he sees himself as an actor: "I'm not a wrestler anymore, I'm chasing a future now as an actor and one day as a director. I'm not Rock. I'm Dwayne Johnson."

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Before he was known as "The Rock," Johnson's football teammates at the University of Miami called him "Dewey" Johnson. Even in interviews today, his teammates still refer to him as Dewey. Apparently they first heard the nickname when Johnson's parents came to visit and his mother called him by that name in front of everyone.

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While filming the sword fight scene with Michael Clarke Duncan in The Scorpion King (2002), Johnson stated clearly that the swords breaking was real and unintentional, and that it was extremely dangerous because it was not planned and could have cut anyone.

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During the filming of Be Cool (2005), Ashton Kutcher's crew pranked him for Punk'd (2003). They set his trailer on fire, but this did not seem to affect him much. It only happened after Vince, one of the Punk'd (2003) crew, took responsibility for the fire, things heated up and the joke came out.

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On 29 March 2008, he inducted his father and grandfather, Rocky Johnson and Peter Fanene Maivia, into the WWE Hall of Fame.

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During his visit to Samoa in July 2004, he was bestowed the title of Seiuli, the Son of Malietoa, by Head of State Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II.

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His net worth is 190 million dollars.

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He decided to attend the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, because they showed no clear interest in him.

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On 13 December 2017, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

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He was the second highest-paid actor of 2017, earning 65 million dollars.

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He was offered a promotional deal with "Dunkin' Donuts" that would have led the company to take his name. Thinking it would make him look arrogant, he politely declined the offer.

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In 2012, Dwayne founded the film company "Seven Bucks Productions" with his ex-wife Dany Garcia and his brother Hiram Garcia to make their own various projects. The company's name is reported to have been inspired by the dead end Dwayne found himself in after giving up his football career, left with only "seven bucks" to his name.

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He initially chose "Flex Kavana" as his stage name because he did not want to appear to be trading on his family's legacy (his father Rocky Johnson and his grandfather, High Chief Peter Fanene Maivia). Ironically, after WWE officials felt "Flex Kavana" was not a very good name, they came up with "Rocky Maivia."

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Johnson's football teammates in Miami said he sang country music on the team bus. In interviews he has said that his days as a young man in Nashville first introduced him to country music, and that he has loved it ever since. He has said on Twitter that his favorite artists include Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, George Strait and Jamey Johnson.

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He has three daughters: Simone Alexandra Johnson (b. 14 August 2001) with his ex-wife Dany Garcia, and Jasmine Lia Johnson (b. 16 December 2015) and Tiana Johnson (b. 17 April 2018) with his wife Lauren Hashian.

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He stated that the film adaptation of Doom (2005) was a complete failure and that the film did great damage to fans of the video game series.

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When Johnson first appeared in WWE as Rocky Maivia in 1996, he was not much of a fan favorite. Although he was booked as a hero, the fans booed him mercilessly and chanted "Rocky sucks" at every match. He later told Oprah Winfrey that this negative reaction turned him into the selfish character The Rock and, ironically, made him a fan favorite.

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Dwayne Johnson once appeared on Martha Stewart Living (1996) to cook one of his favorite family recipes.

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According to Forbes, his estimated earnings in 2016 were about $64.5 million, making him the highest-paid actor of that year.

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He was teammates with Doug Flutie on the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

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During a promo on WWE Monday Night RAW (1993) in which he attacked Ron Simmons (Faarooq), he officially declared himself "The Rock."

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Dwayne Johnson is friends with Jason Statham, Kevin Hart, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Emily Blunt.

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Johnson enjoys fishing. He occasionally posts about his hobby on social media, filling his posts with fishing lingo such as "spinnerbaits" and "soft plastics." In 2017, he revealed that he raises bass in a pond on his farm.

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A likeness of him in wax is on display at Madame Tussauds.

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Tanoai Reed has been Johnson's stunt double for more than 15 years. Besides bearing a strong resemblance to him, the two are distant cousins and are related through their great-grandfathers. Reed called Johnson "the realest" and the most "down to earth, humble and talented" man he knows.

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He attended and graduated from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Another former student there was Daniel Dae Kim.

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He is a cousin of Solofa Fatu Jr. (Rikishi) and Rodney Agatupu Anoai (Yokozuna).

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His favorite eyebrow style (aside from his own) is Groucho Marx's.

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He wanted to play the lead in Jack Reacher (2012), but was passed over in favor of Tom Cruise.

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Growing up, he thought his father's job was "wrestling"; he once tried amateur wrestling and found he did not like it.

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He is the first eight-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

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He is a member of the elite group of wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, who have held the WWF and WCW world championships on various occasions.

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Johnson's father, Rocky Johnson, underwent hip replacement surgery. When Dwayne Johnson told his son he would need a bigger car because of his condition, he bought the 73-year-old former wrestler a brand-new Cadillac Escalade. The massive vehicle even had a gold bow on it. It was the second time he had bought his father a new car, after surprising him with a Ford Explorer in 2016.

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Dwayne is a skilled light-tackle saltwater fisherman.

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He weighed 290 pounds during his college football career, but dropped to about 265 pounds late in his wrestling career. More recently, he lost another 30 pounds for his role in Southland Tales (2006) and has since regained some of that weight.

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While fighting Stone Cold Steve Austin (Steve Austin) at Wrestlemania XV, he was the first person to kick out of the "Stone Cold Stunner."

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As of 2017, Doom (2005), Southland Tales (2006), Faster (2010), Pain & Gain (2013) and Baywatch (2017) are the only R-rated films Dwayne Johnson has appeared in. All of his other films received no higher than a PG-13 rating.

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When Dwayne Johnson first arrived in the WWF, he received guidance and training from Bret Hart, also known as "The Hitman."

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During the promotional tour for San Andreas (2015), Dwayne Johnson set a world record by taking 105 selfies in three minutes, an average of one selfie every 1.7 seconds.

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Dwayne Johnson is an officially registered minister in California, and he performed a ceremony for his best friend (Nick Mundy) in a special YouTube video titled Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Wedding Surprise!.

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While once putting on a show for WWF road agent Pat Patterson, Dwayne Johnson sold his opponent's moves so well that his girlfriend at the time, Dany Garcia, thought he had actually been hurt.

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Dwayne Johnson is the first athlete to host Saturday Night Live (1975) twice. Although his second stint was promoting his film The Scorpion King (2002), his professional wrestling and CFL background make him the first athlete to host the series twice.

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Dwayne Johnson is the uncle of wrestlers Jimmy (Jonathan Solofa Fatu) and Jey (Joshua Samuel Fatu), also known as "The Usos."

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When Rocky Maivia first considered using the short name The Rock, he resisted because he thought it would be stealing the old nickname of WWE Hall-of-Famer Don Muraco. Vince Russo spoke with him about it.

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The Rock returned to WWE and won the WWE Championship at the 2013 Royal Rumble by defeating CM Punk, then retained the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

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Dwayne Johnson was included in the Time 100, Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people, with tributes written by Peter Berg and Gal Gadot (in both 2016 and 2019).

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Dwayne Johnson is the cousin of former wrestler Umaga and wrestler Roman Reigns.

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People magazine named Dwayne Johnson its 2016 Sexiest Man Alive.

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Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia met when he was 22, and they married the day after her 25th birthday. He had not introduced her to his family until shortly before their wedding. The wrestler Tonga Fifita, known as Haku, was his best man.

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Dwayne Johnson has often played a character in a sequel to a series who did not appear in the first film. Examples include The Mummy Returns (2001), Be Cool (2005), Fast Five (2011), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G. I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017).

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Dwayne Johnson's creation of the "the Rock" character became one of the most charismatic and dynamic characters the WWE industry has ever seen.

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Dwayne Johnson attended the Republican National Convention (2004).

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Dwayne Johnson made his WWF television debut at Survivor Series (1996).

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When Universal Orlando redesigned Earthquake: The Big One in 2007, Dwayne Johnson took on a significant role in its new incarnation, Disaster!. The attraction turned riders into extras in an action film starring Johnson. That year, Disaster! was replaced by a new ride based on the Fast & Furious series, in which Johnson also played a significant role.

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Dwayne Johnson signed a revenue deal with Under Armour.

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In 2002, the entertainment magazine Variety reported that Dwayne Johnson would star in a live-action adaptation of the animated hit series Johnny Bravo. According to one of the producers, Johnson was a childhood fan of Johnny Bravo. Unfortunately, nothing came of the film.

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Dwayne Johnson was offered the role of Cade Yeager in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), but he turned it down to star in Hercules (2014). The role went to Mark Wahlberg.

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Dwayne Johnson is the son of Ata Johnson and Rocky Johnson.

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A training shoe called Project Rock Delta was designed for Under Armour.

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Dwayne Johnson remains close friends with WWE writer Brian Gewirtz.

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Dwayne Johnson ranked 61st on VH1's list of the 100 Hottest Hotties.

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Dwayne Johnson was contacted about appearing at Flair's farewell speech the night after WrestleMania XXIV (2008), but he declined due to scheduling conflicts.

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Dwayne Johnson's major title wins include: the WWF/WWE Heavyweight Championship (8); the WWF Intercontinental Championship; the WWF Tag Team Championship with Mick Foley; the WWE Tag Team Championship with Chris Jericho; the WWF Royal Rumble winner; the WCW Heavyweight Championship; and the USWA Tag Team Championship with Bret Sawyer.

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Dwayne Johnson competed in the Royal Rumble match four times (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001), winning in 2000. During his main career he appeared in the main event of WrestleMania in three different years (1999, 2000, 2001). All three matches were for the WWF Championship. In 2012 and 2013, he came out of retirement to wrestle John Cena twice at 'Mania; both matches were main events.

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Over a 16-year span, Dwayne Johnson competed at ten different WrestleManias — XIII (1997), XIV (1998), XV (1999), 2000, X-Seven (2001), X-8 (2002), XIX (2003), XX (2004), XXVIII (2012) and 29 (2013).

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Dwayne Johnson is the former brother-in-law of Hiram Garcia.

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Dwayne Johnson ate at the fast food restaurant In-N-Out for the first time in his life.

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Dwayne Johnson held a long reign as WWF Intercontinental Champion for nine months, from December 1997 to August 1998.

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Dwayne Johnson was born at 18:02 (PDT).

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On the February 16, 2024, episode of SmackDown, The Rock cemented his heel turn when he joined the Bloodline.

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Dwayne Johnson is the first professional wrestler to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

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