He smashed global box office records, was crowned Hollywood's highest-earning actor, and made it to Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World list twice – And now Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is bringing his story to television.
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Young Rock, premiering this week on Yes-TV, traces the former WWE wrestler's early childhood years before he would become a movie star, and focuses on three formative time points: as a 10-year-old boy in Hawaii during the early 1980s; As a clumsy, oversized 15-year-old with a dream to continue on the path of his wrestling father, Rocky Johnson; And towards the age of 20 as he begins to develop a career of his own as a football player in Miami.
Additionally, the story as a whole is told from a future point in time, when in 2032 Johnson is supposedly running for US presidency and looks back at his life during a TV interview.
Young Rock premiered on NBC last February, and achieved good ratings from the start, along with favorable reviews. At the end of the 2020-2021 season, it was proclaimed as the most-watched new comedy series, which of course led the way for a second season already in production.
Speaking about the series during the Television Critics Association winter tour, the former wrestler said, "it was truly a love letter to professional wrestling, which is a business that I grew up in and a business that I've loved all of my life and learned some of my most valuable, while very unorthodox, lessons coming out of the world of pro wrestling, so to be able to highlight and showcase these men who were, in essence, my superheroes. They didn't wear capes when I was a little boy. They were these men in the professional wrestling world.
"And I will say that, you know, of all the actors who we cast, all of them really, truly embodied these professional wrestlers. Because in many ways, this was the very first time you were seeing these wrestlers portrayed certainly in primetime".
Johnson's credits include The Scorpion King, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and the highly popular Fast & Furious franchise, which he joined in 2011 as Luke Hobbs, and next summer is set to star as Black Adam in the film adaption of the DC Comics Extended Universe character. Additionally, he headlined and co-executive produced HBO's sports comedy series Ballers for five seasons. It should be noted that his television credits only accompany his thriving career on the big screen and his individual lifetime box office gross stands at an impressive $10.5B worldwide.
"My life was incredibly complicated, and it was incredibly tough growing up", said Johnson about creating the series and sharing his personal journey, "We specifically went with these timelines in my life that were very defining times and if we're, universe willing, lucky enough to come back for another round of this thing, there's a lot of other things in between those years that took place. But it was complicated, and the relationship that I had with my dad was incredibly complicated, that was fueled by tough love. My dad was kicked out of his house at 13 and he was homeless, so that then shaped the man who then raised me.
"And in that complication, then came an extraordinary life that was full of travel. I lived in 13 different states by the time I was 13 years old. I also lived in New Zealand. And there was so much breadth to this life that I had. I think there's the willingness to rip some things open and realize that vulnerability is going to be one of those factors, but also, through that, I think, really, when I look back on this and I can reflect this, the series has really allowed in a way me to appreciate those hard times that much more. Because through the brilliance of the writers, they were able to craft something that still made audiences – I hope and I think and fingers crossed – feel a certain way and know that, you know, that we all go through these tough times".
Johnson also talked about the reflective nature of a show depicting his experiences, saying "sometimes when we're going through tough times like this, sometimes when you're in it, you're in the bubble. Sometimes when you see somebody else going through it, it just adds. It just gives a different perspective. It's almost like you take that kaleidoscope, rather, and you just click it a few times and you see something in a different perspective".
Ultimately, he believes the show illustrates the impact his dad had on him. "I've celebrated one year of the loss of my dad. My dad died one year ago this month last year. He died suddenly. And he's obviously featured throughout the show, and Joseph Lee did a tremendous job playing my dad. He would have loved this.
He would have loved this and he would have been so proud. Because for the first time, certainly in primetime, we are showcasing this world that he and all of his brothers of the ring, so to speak, of those men in the 1970s and the 1980s, that they gave their life to and, you know, to showcase it like this and to showcase it through the lens of something that's positive I know would have meant a lot to my dad. Because a lot of times the world of pro wrestling isn't always looked at through that lens in a positive way, and there's a lot of positive that we can take out of this".
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