Dwayne Johnson has a new interview in Esquire to promote his HBO series, Ballers. Honestly, I don’t know where he finds the time to star in several movies per year plus a tv show. The guy also works out at 4 am every day. The Rock must not require sleep.
This interview doesn’t have any amazing pull quotes, but it’s still a worthwhile read because nobody can say anything bad about The Rock. You can call him a jerk (or a jabroni if you’re a wrestling fan), but there’s no information to back up the claim. He’s just a really grateful, enthusiastic, hot guy, who would like journos to start acknowledging his girlfriend. He does drop a few key words about egotistical “young bucks” in Hollywood, but he never mentions names. Some excerpts:
On Ballers: “You’ll get a kick out of it. The guy, Spencer Strasmore, is everything I dreamed of being. I dreamed of being an NFL player, All-Pro, making money, buying my parents a house, the whole thing, like he has done.”
He can’t believe his success: “I just came back from the gym, and I’m driving down Sunset and I see a massive billboard that says San Andreas, and I’m like, “Wow, that’s great! This worked out!” I get corny like this. And I swear to God, I turn my head and there’s an even bigger billboard that says Ballers. Man, I can’t believe it.
He loves doing press: “It’s funny, journalists will come in and say, ‘Thank you so much for sitting with me; I know your day’s been so long.’ I’ve got to be honest with you, we’re literally sitting here talking. It’s the easiest thing. Everything’s free, we’re at this hotel, you’ve got free food, we’re just talking about things.”
On certain male actors: “These young bucks come in and think they know everything when they really don’t know sh*t. The best thing you can do is be quiet and open your ears. Let everybody else talk.”
Anything else he wants to say? “Yeah. I’ve lived with my longtime girlfriend, Lauren Hashian, going on, like, eight, nine years now. She’s a singer-songwriter. We spend a lot of time with my daughter in Florida, Simone, who’s 13. We do these stories and we talk so much about the business end, the success end, but then Lauren isn’t mentioned and my daughter isn’t mentioned. I always like making sure we find the balance and my home life is in there and Lauren Hashian is in there and my daughter is in there. You gotta get the better half in there. With all the cool sh*t and success that I’ve been lucky enough to get? That doesn’t happen unless the home life is solid.”
[From Esquire]
Any actor who complains about doing press should shrink in shame after reading Johnson’s feelings on interviews. He’ll never act like promoting his work is beneath him, perhaps because Johnson remembers what it was like to struggle. I love that he straight-up told a journalist to mention his long-term girlfriend. She’s a lucky lady, and he’s a lucky man.
I’m including a photo of Johnson with his mom, Ata, and his daughter, Simone. She’s only 13 years old and is already stunning.
Photos courtesy of Esquire/Nigel Parry & WENN
He’s the best!
And he’s so damn pretty.
*melts*
*sighs*
everything he says is pure gold. “shut up and listen” work hard- Such a great role model, but wish you’d have put up a photo of him with his girlfriend, to make him happy.
A humble, hard-working guy who tries to give back and share the success he’s made of his life. He takes care of his Mom & his daughter, he’s on good terms with his ex-wife, and gives a shout out to his girlfriend. Plus he’s freakin’ gorgeous in a huge-teddy-bear kind of way. What’s not to love? 🙂
He really does seem like such a nice guy.
During his wrestling days, he was really entertaining. He played into the crowd and the whole schtick of wrestling (because we all know it’s just a soap opera for redneck men). He’s not quoting Shakespeare in his movies and I don’t see an Oscar in the near future, but he seems like a really nice guy. He ain’t bad to look at either…
I loved The Rock back in the day, and still do. I still watch the wrestling (it is so sad these days) but a few months ago he came back and I swear, I was just repeating every line like 10+ years had not passed.
And he just seems to love everything that he does, and would be so nice to the fans and would sit there and give you all the time in his day if he could. And, his cousin Roman Reigns is super duper hot.
+1 to another wrestling fan that’s not a “redneck man” (playful side eye Michelle)
It got a little slow after WM but I can’t deny that Rollins is bae!! So fucking fit!
Kudos to a Hollywood guy who doesn’t have “issues”.
I love The Rock. I don’t follow wrestling, and I don’t really like the bodybuilder look, but man… Dwayne has so much charisma and seems to be such a lovely person that he just *melts* me. Also, he sings like the angels. My secret wish is the get a serenata from The Rock.
He seems really sweet and engaging. It’s nice that he finds the press stuff easy, but honestly I think it takes a certain personality type to be able to make small talk like that all day long. I would find it pure torture…and that would not be out of ungratefulness. My brain/personality is just not naturally cut out for that stuff.
I just stumbled across Ballers but haven’t watched it. Does anyone know if it’s any good? And is it appropriate for teens?
Hey Esmom. I watch it. The first episode had some sex scenes in it but the second one didn’t. There are some curse words, but not too many. Depends on if you have a teenage boy; he may not want to be sitting there with his mom watching the first episode. Good luck!!
Thanks for the feedback. I am trying to find something for my 14 year old son and I to watch. But we are currently watching Bates Motel and I don’t think there’s anything worse for a mom and son to watch together, so icky on so many levels! I tried to get him to stop after the first couple episodes but he wanted to keep watching, and so did I. So the awkwardness continues. The black humor tempers things a little bit. 🙂
I totally get what you are saying. But I guess many times actors don’t acknowledge that journalists are also working and do feel better than them. Even if they don’t like how journalists work, they can control what they say and how they say it. keeping engaged when you are asked the same thing hundreds of times must be annoying but you have to put it into perspective. It’s better than working in a call center or selling pillows to entitled clients. When actors become too important they seem to forget that.
If I ever find out anything bad about the Rock it’ll break my heart into itty bitty pieces. I have an enormous crush on him because of what a great human being he seems to be.
My brother is a film reporter at an overseas newspaper and interviewed Dwayne Johnson recently for San Andreas! He said that he was super nice and a pleasure to interview, so there you go 🙂
Somehow i doubt his daughter will be dressing like a 40 yr old hooker anytime soon **side eye Kylie Jenner**…..i think he’s a hands on dad 🙂
He’s seems like a really down-to-earth guy. Most of his films aren’t of interest to me, but personally it’s nice to see someone with such a grasp of reality and sense of self make it so big.
He is like a unicorn. He’s so happy, and I think a lot of it comes from accepting himself. I was truly happy “San Andreas” did well. I hope “Ballers” does, too. I’m voting for Dwayne for everything!
I met and spoke with him briefly back when I worked as hostess at a restaurant. He was then with his ex wife and truly, appeared to be the nicest guy and most positive person!
Love him! Is he still shooting in MA?
OMG, IS he?? I drove through Davis Square last week and there was filming going on…was it him?! If it was, I would have pulled my car over and done the slow movie slow-mo run right into his arms! I’m shedding a tear in case it was him and I missed him.
He was shooting in Wakefield a couple of weeks ago. He was in a car accident and the guy didnt want him to pay for anything.
I always had a soft spot for him and now I think I am in full crush mode. A celebrity who works his ass off, is grateful when that work pays off, doesn’t take himself too seriously and doesn’t think he’s above doing promotion? @Kri, he really is like a unicorn – a sexy, buffed-up unicorn who could kick all the other unicorn’s asses.
He mentioned his partner and child and the world did not fall apart. WHAAAT!!!!
Love him to bits and wish him every success. He knows his niche and owns it. Gracious too (he should give seminars to new stars).
His daughter is only 13? Very pretty, she’ll be a heartbreaker. I’ll bet it’s a good thing her father is the Rock. 😉
The Rock is just really good at having fun. If you can make everything fun then everything is easy.
i love it that he actually got really close to a journo that he took time to get a proper license so he could officiate the journo’s wedding. that’s just… i have no words.
if in the future some huge gory skeleton came out of his closet i’ll be mourning.
He’s humble. He remembers the struggles to get where he is while never becoming jaded. Keeping that positive outlook on everything. He’s great.
He’s the absolute best!!!!
Can he rock a suit (no pun intended)!
allegedly he messed around on his wife a lot back in the day. A couple wrestlers said he had a thing for Trish Stratus. He seems a little full of himself and douchey (ie. all the selfies and pics with the private plane in the back) but I still like him
He is so awesome! He seems so sweet, so grounded, and the fact that he is so freakin’ hot doesn’t hurt!
You an always tell the ones who came from truly humble beginnings and have to work hard for everything they achieve. They are the ones who appreciate what they have, understand how fortunate they are and because of that manage to keep their sanity and common sense. It’s so nice to see someone deserving of success. His girlfriend and wife are very lucky to have him in their lives.
I think the people who hate doing press hate it because they don’t want to talk about what the press wants to talk about. They’re doing press for something they care about, but the press only wants to ask about x, y, or z. Johnson wants to talk about what the press is asking him, so it’s all fun for him. I think he’s great. Such charisma. He could be less “roidy” in my view, though. I don’t like the big, bulging look.
His comments are always so refreshing and grounded.
That said… spending all day talking to new people isn’t “the easiest thing” if you have social anxiety, especially if you’re a bigger star whose words are relentlessly picked apart and turned into out-of-context headlines. He’s a people person, and he’s able to stay relaxed, but not everyone can do that. I have pretty severe anxiety myself, and I can’t imagine being an actor and talking to press all day long. Many actors say they love performing but hate the rest of it, and I empathize with that.
I’m not going to accuse him of trivializing real mental health struggles. He’s clearly talking about spoiled people who think it’s suuuuuch a draaaag to repeat plot summaries and answer trite questions. But “just talking about things” can reduce me to a shaking, sweating mess, and if I had to start all over again with a new stranger every few minutes… agh, my heart is racing just thinking about it.
He’s totally right about new actors spouting stupidity, though. And he knows his privilege, which I always love to see in someone successful. Some actors don’t get that the “downfalls” of their job are a million times cushier and easier to withstand than the day-to-day details of jobs that pay 100 times less…
I have always loved The Rock. He is so cool.
I like how he points out the perks of having to do press for a film — being able to sit in a cushy hotel room all day, getting delicious free food and drinks, having people come in and (mostly) do their best to find out what you have to say. He has a great attitude.
Rock is pretty much the man. That’s all.