You’re looking at the first press photo of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Hercules. The hair is weird, yes. The beard is made of yak hair, yes. He still looks mind-blazingly hot, yes.

Dwayne stars in the second Hercules movie of the year, but I don’t think anyone remembers the film starring Kellan Lutz. Dwayne’s version is directed by Brett Ratner, but don’t let that deter you. I’d do just about anything for The Rock. The man makes some of the cheesiest blockbuster movies (G.I. Joe to Fast & Furious), but he always does so with charisma. He bounced berries off his pecs in Journey to the Mysterious Island like no other. Who else could get away with such deadpan hilarity? Dwayne also gives good interview, and I think many of us melted when he counted the ways he’d take care of a woman. Even his ultra roidy Twitpics did not take away from his hotness.

Dwayne is starting to do the press rounds for Hercules. He did a cute interview with People where he talked about how his daughter, Simone, often throws his old wrestling insults at him. I wonder which ones she uses? I wouldn’t mind The Rock throwing “the people’s eyebrow” my way. Talk about immaculate conception. Dwayne talked with USA Today about how much he enjoyed this Hercules role. You gotta love his enthusiasm:

His favorite scene: “It’s when Hercules breaks through the chains and becomes the demi-god he was born to be. I was actually yelling with all the power I could muster, ‘I am Hercules!’ I gave it my all and made myself pass out every time we did it. But I honestly felt in that moment that I was born to play this role. He was the first superhero.”

Producer Beau Flynn on Dwayne: “It’s incredible, he’s up every morning at 3:45 right on the treadmill, then it was right to the gym for hours. And then it was to the makeup chair, then shooting all day in the heat. And repeat that for 90 days.”

He spent 4 1/2 hours in makeup each day: “It looked incredible, we had succeeded. But it was like, how the hell can we cut the time down?” Eventually they whittled the daily process to 3 1/2 hours, though the lush yak-beard (“Yes, real yak hair,” says Johnson) alone took 2 1/2 hours of application.

The film is as real as possible: “Green screen and effects can be fantastic. But when you have real men, real sweat and even real blood, it’s very gratifying. You feel the substance.”

The Rock knows how to unwind: “I had the club of Hercules and the Nemean lion’s head in my room. I’d come home to that and catch something on the BBC with a glass of tequila.”

[From USA Today]

Whoa. Dwayne hit the treadmill at 3:45 am every day while filming this movie. That’s some hardcore stuff, and I hope he enjoyed his cheat day. Here’s the first Hercules trailer. This movie will do some amazing business when it arrives. Dwayne has a huge following of fans, and they are very loyal to their man.

I love these photos of The Rock wearing gingham at a Miami Heat game last month. Gingham!

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures, Fame/Flynet & WENN