Few people still call Dwayne Johnson The Rock. That's because he's pretty much retired from playing that role in a wrestling ring. No more will he people drop his elbow on his opponent.
These days, the big man with a shaved head, dazzling smile, and impressive tattoos has been working full-time on his acting chops on the big screen, even starring in the upcoming HBO series “Ballers.”
While he was starring in Hercules, he was approached to write a script for San Andreas, which reunited him with Journey director Brad Peyton, which was filmed in Wilmington. 2: The Mysterious Island, in which he played a first responder trying to save his family during an earthquake in San Andreas.
He said yes almost immediately.
The mild-mannered Johnson recently spoke in Los Angeles about his new work. “San Andreas” opens Friday.
Q: This is a wild action movie with incredible visual effects, but even most of the characters and events seem pretty realistic. Was there a lot of discussion about that on the project?
A: Of course. There are a lot of emotional parts to making a film, and it's a very collaborative process. I think when we try to build heroic characters that play real men and women alive and existing today in a big movie like this, a real-world movie, we need to go for a level of detail and depth. Masu. It's really amazing. I believe that the role of a first responder comes with great responsibility.
There are audience expectations, so I want to meet those expectations in terms of heroic characters.
Q: This movie stars Paul Giamatti as a scientist who keeps warning people about an impending earthquake, and it depicts some of the worst destruction ever seen on film. Do you know if it's based on scientific evidence or just for fun?
A: Before Paul came on board to play this role, he had the top seismologists at Caltech, the best seismologists, review the script, challenge the script, and ultimately say, “This is not going to happen.'' That can happen,” and walked away from that script. I hope it doesn't happen, but it could happen. ”
If you're going to put that into a script, have top scientists say it, and give it their stamp of approval, you need someone like Paul to come in and apply it and do it with conviction and heart. I think.
Q: Were there any new skills you had to add to your physical regimen or learn for this role?
A: The training part was pretty consistent. The difference was that I was participating in something I had never done before. That meant spending time with first responders, LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department), and helicopter rescue pilots. It was quite different for me to study the process with these people for quite some time. I was training different muscles.
Q: As a child, did you ever imagine that you would grow up to be a movie hero icon?
A: Well, when I was eight years old, I saw “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in Charlotte, North Carolina. I loved the movie. I walked out of there feeling so inspired that I said, “I’m so inspired. “I want to be a guy who is attractive, cool, and cool to women.'' But I had no connection to Hollywood. So I'm very happy and very grateful to be sitting here today.