It’s proving to be a busy period for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, sometime WWE professional wrestler and Hollywood film star. Well, another one. Red One, a Christmas-themed action movie (Johnson plays Santa Claus’s bodyguard), was released earlier this month. The Disney animation, Moana 2 (for which he voices the tattooed demigod Maui) is about to be released. He is also in the process of filming the new live-action version of Moana, and embarking on another Disney movie, Monster Jam.
If anyone is surprised by Johnson’s repeated donning of the cinematic mouse ears, or by his general presence in children’s films, they shouldn’t be. While he is probably still best known for the Fast & Furious film franchise, and other flexes of his big-screen muscle, he has long been a staple in family movies. With his reputed $50m fee for Red One, and with an estimated net worth of about $800m, he has become one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars. Johnson also made the Time magazine 100 list of influential people – not once but twice, in 2016 and 2019.
The Rock should run for US president, you may josh. That very suggestion was tested by a sizeable 2021 poll resulting in 46% of Americans saying they would back him (more of which anon).
If, for some of us, Johnson does not register on our radar, leastways not in these rarefied zones, or to such an extent, then we haven’t been paying attention.
These days, it’s not just about The Rock’s success, it’s also about the spread of it: films; wrestling; television; sundry business ventures; calls to go into politics.
For all that, outside the US Johnson could represent something of a cultural blind spot. As in, you’ll have heard of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (probably), but he’s not someone you’d necessarily place in Hollywood’s top starry tier (you’re wrong). Doesn’t he just do fighting-grunting acting, and otherwise mainly stands there like a block of crudely honed wood? (You may be thinking of Jean-Claude Van Damme.)
Johnson, 52, has a large dedicated female fanbase, with wider reach than you would think. He has talked honestly and regretfully of his troubles with depression, and past personal mistakes. A father of three daughters, his ex-wife is still his friend and business partner. In 2018, on International Women’s Day holding his eight-year-old daughter Jasmine (“Jazzy”) in his arms, he posted a message on then-Twitter: “To every woman out there ‘round the world – all ages and races – I proudly stand by your side to honour, protect and respect.”
Saying that, Johnson’s appeal seems not one iota dependent on what women are supposed to like. Certainly not if reports about how macho rugged guys are currently “out” are correct – and modern women prefer prettier, more feminised men, offscreen and on, from Brad Pitt to One Day’s Leo Woodall.
By contrast, The Rock represents the kind of male archetype that never truly goes out of fashion, primarily because such a solid unyielding block of men really like him, maybe even need him – viewing the unbridled alpha masculinity of his action movies as a form of rebellion against modern world reprimands and restrictions. Judged by these metrics, Johnson’s brand of masculinity is focus group-proof.
If The Rock is now one of the most successful film stars in the world, the product isn’t always so celebrated. His humorous family-friendly film persona is nothing new; it’s an update on the mainstream “gentle giant” trope popularised by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s and 90s, with films such as Twins (1989) and Kindergarten Cop (1991). There’s nothing wrong with that, but the standard has to remain reasonably high.
Despite costing a reputed $200m, some Red One reviews have been un-festively negative. The one-and-a-half star review from the well-read Roger Ebert site ended with the words “a state of unconsciousness might be the best way to enjoy it”.
Johnson’s on-set behaviour has also been the subject of unflattering reports – including the Fast & Furious camp, allegedly involving Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, and Johnson (who now stars with Statham in the Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw spin-off series). The rumours mainly involved the alpha-male actors demanding scripts be tweaked so that their characters always won fights, which (oh, the irony) made them all look a little pouty and beta.
On the Red One set, there were reports of Johnson arriving late, putting filming behind schedule (Johnson says his timings were pre-arranged), and, when away from his trailer, urinating in water-bottles that were then handed to assistants to dispose of (“Yeah, that happens,” admitted Johnson in a GQ magazine interview).
Acting alpha is one thing; behaving like a spoiled boorish A-lister quite another, and damaging to Johnson’s earthy, blue-collar public profile (with parents in the wrestling community, the young Johnson constantly moved around the US so that his late father could wrestle).
If The Rock as real-world US presidential material seems far-fetched, the 2021 poll suggests otherwise, as seemingly does Johnson. Posted on Instagram, his response was: “I don’t think our founding fathers EVER envisioned a six-four, bald, tattooed, half-Black, half-Samoan, tequila drinking, pickup truck driving, fanny pack-wearing guy joining their club – but, if it ever happens, it’d be my honour to serve you, the people.”
There have been screen-to-politics trajectories before: Ronald Reagan, Schwarzenegger, even Donald Trump. After the poll result, Johnson said he was visited by various political parties but, if he does ever run for office, what are his leanings?
Increasingly, Johnson seems to suffer from wandering politics. In 2020, he called himself “centrist”, and declared for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Fast-forward to 2024, and Donald Trump was claiming on talkSPORT that when Johnson saw footage of the assassination attempt, he asked for Trump’s contact details, as the film star had been impressed by his bravery (Trump did not say whether Johnson had been in touch).
Johnson also told Fox News he would not be endorsing Harris for president, and that he “would keep my politics to myself”.
But he has also expressed his frustrations: “Today’s cancel culture, woke culture, division, etcetera – that really bugs me.” Is The Rock suffering from a bad dose of liberal buyer’s regret? Or is it rather his feeling, and of other interested parties, that should he ever run for office, it’s more likely Republicans who would prove supportive?
Getting back to the day job, there are signs that Johnson may be chafing against his stereotyping in action films and family comedies. He is producing and starring in (alongside Emily Blunt) a forthcoming film The Smashing Machine, playing a character based on Mark Kerr, a wrestler and mixed martial artist from the 1990s, whose addictions nearly destroyed him.
If this news instantly causes an eyebrow to arch (The Rock in a wrestling Raging Bull?), maybe it’s time to wonder if, with Johnson, it’s a case of: it’s not him, it’s us. Are people being snobbish about him trying to stretch himself? Are we just as guilty of buying into macho stereotypes – only in slightly knowing, ironic films such as this year’s Ridley Scott sequel Gladiator II?
Perhaps we have not yet learned our lesson about underestimating The Rock. While some of us were not really looking, Dwayne Johnson, cultural outlier, got incredibly big – and in ways beyond his bulked-up physical frame. It could be time to take more notice.
