When Dwayne Johnson sold the idea for a TV comedy about his colorful and challenging early life to NBC a year ago, he was thrilled to tell his parents that a version of their family was attached for the small screen.
Days later, his father was knocked down by a heart attack caused by a blood clot at the age of 75. It’s inevitable that his loss changed Young Rock, said Johnson, who plays himself in the series debate 8pm EST Tuesday. Three actors feature Johnson’s youngest statements.
“I feel emotional when I talk about this, when I talk about my father and think about it,” Johnson said, taking a break to do it himself. . “I had a complicated relationship with my father, and he was a complex man. ”
The series was intended to include the highs and lows of elder Johnson, but after his death his son decided to continue fully into his “real potential to make a man anything feels good. ”
With a smile, he recited Rocky Johnson ‘s father’ s heartfelt greetings, including his favorite: “’Have you worked out? ‘”
Dwayne Johnson, recorded in his remarkable days as The Rock, seems to have inherited some of his skill and aim from his Nova Scotian-born father, who held National Wrestling Alliance titles and who was among the first black champions in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment.
But he may be indebted to his father for the unmistakable charm and warmth that makes Dwayne Johnson instantly, despite his elegant build and status as a box office star with credentials in the the franchises Fast and Furious and Jumanji. The Ballers sports comedy is part of his TV resume.
This is the real deal, “generous and loving,” said Nahnatchka Khan, executive producer for Young Rock with Johnson. “He is co-operative, funny and willing to take opportunities. Comedy is so much trusted… and I trust it completely. ”
Bradley Constant, who plays teenage Johnson wishing for girls, cool threads and a car, took his first major role with guidance from him.
“It gave me the confidence to just be myself. He’s a real ordinary person and has had an amazing life, of course, ”said Constant, who saw the family’s financial difficulties as a way to help him in his career.
Young Rock is structured around Johnson’s picture as a 2032 presidential candidate – a move that is less certain than the political independence is considered. Is he preparing America for his next chapter? “I think the people will prepare me. I can say that, ”he replied with a smile.
In the documentary, he is interviewed by Randall Park, who also plays himself but as a TV journalist. Park starred in Fresh Off the Boat, created and made by Khan.
As Johnson recalls the past, obstacles back to his views as a child, played by Adrian Groulx; high scholar (Constant); and a young adult, played by Australian actor Uli Latukefu. Joseph Lee Anderson and Stacey Leilua play together as Rocky and Ata Johnson’s parents.
Matthew Willig stands tall as the late Andre the Giant, one of the world’s most iconic figures who is portrayed as a common part of Johnson’s unusual childhood and childhood murdered by obstacles that he fights to get over it.
“He really wanted to go in and show the struggle, it wasn’t really a straight line,” Khan said. “He was devastated and had to give up what he thought was a dream and find a new dream, a new path. It’s important that we can explore these moments in comedy. ”
Johnson proved “down for it. It was just about trying to portray the people who really influenced his life, ”she said, adding that what has been featured in the series had happened or that he had been inspired by events.
Reflecting on the past, Dwayne Johnson said, it has come to be understood that the challenges inspire real growth.
“It became an important issue in my struggle and my determination to, in fact, not suffer when we were evicted again (from housing) when I was 13 or 14,” he said. . While working with Khan to find the right way to present the show, “I knew in my heart that the most important thing was to be authentic and okay by ripping off some open stories. and tearing some away. ”
That includes his own messages, which Johnson has said included an arrest for fighting and theft before he was 17.
While it’s “very surreal” to watch his early years appear in the series, he gets a taste of the scene that can only take time.
Even when things went awry, Johnson said, he was strengthened by family and “did he have this opportunity to see those everyday heroes ahead of me, like my father and these keepers? who was popular and popular and so strong and powerful. ”
“You look back on those stories and you’re just so grateful,” he said.