My boyfriend, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, covers this week’s issue of Hollywood Reporter. He is — for better or worse — the king of trash cinema and the go-to hunk for flagging franchises. The magazine describes him as having “the wit of Willis, the strength of Schwarzenegger, the heart of Stallone.” Yep. The Rock is the action hero of our generation. He’s got it all, and his charisma and star power will carry him to the ends of the earth. As long as, you know, the upcoming Hercules movie doesn’t kickstart the apocalypse. That movie looks awful, but it will at least be better than the Kellan Lutz version.

This interview is kind of depressing but ultimately uplifting. The Rock talks about his low periods in life, beginning with a childhood full of money problems and other assorted turmoil. Plus three episodes of major depression in his adult life. Can you imagine The Rock crying? He shed a single tear in The Game Plan, but the thought of him curled up in fetal position makes my heart break. Here are some excerpts:

His difficult childhood: “I remember it as if it were yesterday. We were living in an efficiency that cost $120 a week. We come home, and there’s a padlock on the door and an eviction notice. My mom starts bawling. She just started crying and breaking down. ‘Where are we going to live? What are we going to do?’ That was the tipping point. It was about, ‘What can I control with these two hands?’ The only thing I could do was train and build my body. The successful men I knew were men who built their bodies.”

His 1st of 3 depressions over a football injury: “I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know why I didn’t want to do anything. I had never experienced anything like that. I didn’t want to do a thing. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was crying constantly. Eventually you reach a point where you are all cried out.”

His second depression: “You hear the words you never want to hear as a player: ‘Coach wants to see you. Bring your playbook.’ There was no injury. It’s just, ‘That’s it. You’re not good enough.’ That was very sobering. The dreams I had, they’re dashed. There is no more football. My relationship was crushed. That was my absolute worst time. I looked in my pocket, and I had seven bucks. Wow. Seven bucks to my name.”

Life as a pro wrestler: “There are two terms in wrestling. Baby face is your hero, heel is your villain. I had no choice but to go heel. I loved it. I loved the showmanship, and I loved the theatricality. It was so entertaining and over-the-top, and I was always mesmerized by these guys.”

Leaving wrestling for movies: “I was told that I had to conform to a standard in Hollywood that would beget me more work, better roles. Which meant I had to stop going to the gym, which meant I couldn’t be as big, which meant you had to distance yourself from wrestling. You essentially had to deconstruct yourself.”

He fired his agents after Tooth Fairy: “It just dawned on me: Change has to happen. It reached a point of, ‘I’m not feeling authentic.’ I felt there were bigger and better opportunities. I also felt there was franchise potential, hopefully multiple franchises in every genre — whether drama or comedy or action-comedy.”

His 3rd depression after divorce: “Once I manned up and became accountable for the mess I was in, that’s when it all hit me. What kind of dad does this make me? What kind of man will I now become? Failing at marriage and as a husband was a heavy thing, and divorce had that special way of knocking me on my ass.”

On Paul Walker’s death: “I was driving with Lauren when she immediately turned very quiet and was looking at me, studying, wondering if I knew. I pulled over and looked at my messages and had a moment where I just caught my breath. We said a prayer right then to give his daughter strength — because we had talked about our daughters. That’s what we would talk about. Both of us were divorced, and we talked about the power of being a dad and the strong connection of a dad and his girl. Then once we got home, we started bawling.”

His favorite tattoo: “The warrior is over my heart, which is the overall sentiment.”

He wants to be a global movie star: “What do I want? I want the world. I grew up where, when a door closed, a window didn’t open. The only thing I had was cracks. I’d do everything to get through those cracks — scratch, claw, bite, push, bleed. Now the opportunity is here. The door is wide open and it’s as big as a garage.”

[From Hollywood Reporter]

The Rock just spoke to The Mail last night on the red carpet in Sydney. When asked if his depression could return, he said, “[I] hope not, but life is unpredictable. I like to use the hard times in the past to motivate me today.” He also admitted to taking a shot or two of tequila every night before bed. With that physique!

It sounds like The Rock got over his divorce depression. He’s been divorced for several years and has been dating singer Lauren Hashlan for about two years. Of Lauren, he told People, “I’m a lucky son of a bitch.” She’s the lucky one! The Rock knows how to take care of a woman.

If work ethic is anything, then The Rock will continue to succeed in movies. He’s also terribly devoted to fitness. The HR story says he gets up at 4 a.m. every day to do 30 minutes of cardio before breakfast. Then he moves onto weights for god knows how long. Hours probably. He eats a total of six meals per day, and I believe it. Here are some gorgeous pictures from the HR shoot. The Rock gets moody and happy for your viewing pleasure.

Photos courtesy of Hollywood Reporter