Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is now well established as one of the most successful actors of all time, with his box office gross exceeding more than $10 billion in total. But before he entered the world of acting, he was a household name thanks to his highly successful professional wrestling career.
Switching from the wrestling ring to Hollywood is never easy. While Johnson has clearly made the right decision switching careers, he feels that he owes a debt of gratitude to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser for helping him get his foot in the door.
Dwayne Johnson Thanks Brendan Fraser for Giving Him a Chance
The pair were interviewing each other as part of the ongoing “Actors on Actors” series for Variety when Johnson started the conversation by thanking Fraser for helping him get his break in Hollywood.
After attempting to transition away from professional wrestling to become an actor, his first mainstream role and full theatrical release was in the 2001 film “The Mummy Returns,” where he played the villainous Scorpion King. This led to him starring in a spin-off in 2002 as the lead role in “The Scorpion King.”
It turns out that Johnson only got his role in “The Mummy” franchise because Fraser thought he was a good fit for the part. Johnson began, “Good to see you, brother. I’d love to start off our conversation by giving you flowers. OK? I’m going to deliver a lot of flowers to your doorstep right now. You and I first connected on ‘The Mummy Returns.’”
He continued, “That was one of the biggest franchises in the world at that time. I was ready to make my transition into Hollywood. And there was a moment where you could have said, ‘This guy, Dwayne Johnson, he’s never acted before; he’s in pro wrestling.’”
However, Johnson reveals that he was told that Fraser was instead welcoming and wanted him to be involved — something that changed the course of Johnson’s movie career. “The word I got back was, ‘Brendan loves the idea. He welcomed you with open arms.’ It meant something to me, because you took a risk on me, and years later, you and I are sitting here. I want to thank you for really changing my life,” he says.
Fraser replied, saying “You’re too kind, Dwayne. You were always the right guy for the job. When I was told that you were a possibility for it, forgive me, but I didn’t know you from the wrestling world. And when I was shown, I said, ‘That is inspired casting. We’d be lucky to get the guy.’”
“You need a stadium persona to play a villain you love to hate. It’s going to take a lot of confidence and belief. In the wrestling world, you were painting with a 10-inch brush — you need to have big energy.
Brendan Fraser Thanks Dwayne Johnson for His Support Towards ‘The Whale’
During the same interview, Fraser was also gracious towards his fellow actor for the support he had shown during the release of “The Whale.” The movie cemented Fraser’s comeback as a serious actor and even won him an Academy Award for Best Actor. According to Fraser, Johnson is owed some credit for this as he threw his support behind the film on social media.
He said, “I owe you a debt of gratitude because when I took “The Whale” with Darren and the crew to Venice, and they applauded for a very long time and stayed on their feet — I’d never been there before. I didn’t know the whole ritual of it.”
“And you put your shoulder into that by showing your support through Twitter. Dwayne, you’re a godfather of sorts of the success of that project. Thank you for that.”
