Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is an American actor and former professional wrestler for WWE and is best known for his roles as Mathayus (the Scorpion King) in the 2001 adventure film The Mummy Returns and its 2002 spin-off The Scorpion King, Joe Kingman in the 2007 family sports comedy film The Game Plan, Luke Hobbs in the 2011 action film Fast Five and as Hank Parsons in the 2012 science fiction adventure film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.
He is the son of fellow WWE wrestler Rocky Johnson, who is a Black Nova Scotian, and Ata Maivia, who is Samoan.
Prior to his emergence as a top-grossing actor beginning in the 2010s, Johnson was an athlete. At Freedom High School in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley, he ultimately emerged as a standout athlete on both the school's football and wrestling teams. His football capabilities at Freedom High School led him to be ranked as one of the top ten defensive tackle high-school prospects in the nation, drawing the attention of several NCAA Division I college football programs.
Johnson accepted an athletic scholarship to play at the University of Miami, one of the country's top college football programs. As a college freshman, he was a member of the University of Miami's 1991 national championship team, but largely spent his four college football years at the University of Miami in backup roles behind elite players, including future NFL star and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Warren Sapp. Johnson aspired to play professional football but went undrafted in the 1995 NFL Draft. Following his graduation from the University of Miami that year, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League; however, he was cut from the team in his first season.
In 1996, Johnson's father Rocky, a longtime professional wrestler, assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF. Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker. Johnson left WWE in 2004 and returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, making sporadic appearances until retiring in 2019. A 10-time world champion, including the promotion's first of African-American descent, he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania XXVIII) and was featured among the most watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown).
Johnson's first film appearance was in The Mummy Returns (2001). The following year he played his first leading role as the titular character in the sword and sorcery action fantasy film The Scorpion King (2002). He has since starred in family films The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), and Jungle Cruise (2021), as well as the action adventure films Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), Skyscraper (2018), San Andreas (2015) and Rampage (2018). He also starred in the action-comedy films Get Smart (2008), Central Intelligence (2016), Baywatch (2017), and Red Notice (2021). In 2016 he voiced Maui in the Disney animated film Moana (2016). His role as Luke Hobbs in the Fast & Furious films, beginning with Fast Five (2011), helped the franchise become one of the highest-grossing in film. He subsequently starred in the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Johnson also stars in the Jumanji films, appearing in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and voices Bark Kent / Krypto / Superdog, Anubis, and Teth-Adam / Black Adam in the animated film DC League of Super-Pets (2022), before starring as the latter in the live-action superhero film Black Adam (2022).
Johnson produced and starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Ballers (2015–2019), and the autobiographical sitcom Young Rock (2021). In 2000, Johnson released his autobiography, The Rock Says, which was a New York Times bestseller. In 2012, he co-founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions, and is co-owner of the XFL, a professional American football league. In 2016 and 2019, Time named Johnson one of the world's most influential people.
He hosting Saturday Night Live for the first-time (and also his first out of the two hosting stints under the name, The Rock) on March 18, 2000, the fifteenth episode of Season 25, with musical guest AC/DC, an Australian rock band.
He returned to Saturday Night Live to hosting for the 2nd time (and also his second and final hosting stint under the name, The Rock), on April 13, 2002, the seventeenth episode of Season 27 with musical guest Andrew W.K..
He returned to Saturday Night Live to hosting for the 3rd time on April 13, 2002, the seventeenth episode of Season 34 with musical guest Ray LaMontagne.
He returned to Saturday Night Live again to hosting for the 4th time on March 28, 2015, the sixteenth episode of Season 40 with musical guest George Ezra.
He returned to Saturday Night Live once again to hosting for the 5th time on May 20, 2017, which is the Season 42 finale, thus making him a five-time host to enter the Five-Timers Club with musical guest Katy Perry.
He made a cameo on October 17, 2009 as The Rock Obama during the "The Rock Obama" cold opening sketch.
Characters/Impressions[]
Characters[]
- The Rock Obama
Impressions[]
- Dennis Rodman
Gallery[]
