Dwayne Johnson was ordered to lose weight, change name for Hollywood career
Hollywood star Dwayne `The Rock` Johnson was ordered to lose weight, drop his stage name and stop talking about wrestling if he wanted to make it in Hollywood.
The `Fast and the Furious` star shot to fame in the mid-1990s as a regular performer with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) adopting the name `The Rock` and becoming one of the franchise`s most recognisable wrestlers before making a crossover to movies with a role as the Scorpion King in 2001`s `The Mummy Returns`, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
However, Johnson has now shared that he was asked to make some serious changes if he wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. Speaking on `CBS Sunday Morning`, he said: “They said, `Okay, great. But now here`s what you have to do: You have to stop working out as much. You have to lose weight. You can`t call yourself The Rock. You can`t talk about wrestling. Let`s stay away from all that.`”
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Host Tracy Smith then asked him: “These are all the things they told you? `Don`t be this anymore`?” and the star replied: “That`s right. So, I tried that, Tracy, I tried getting smaller, losing weight. It all felt wrong.” Tracy then asked: “And once you started being yourself?” and he explained: “That was it. When that happened, a funny thing happened: Hollywood conformed around me. And years later, I`m sitting here with you.”
Johnson went on to land his first leading role, reprising his Scorpion King character for a self-titled 2002 spin-off and his Hollywood career took off. He eventually scored a lucrative recurring role in the `Fast and The Furious` franchise as well as leading the cast of action movies such as `San Andreas` and `Skyscraper`.
Also Read: `Game of Thrones` star Lena Headey gets married for third time
Hollywood star Dwayne `The Rock` Johnson was ordered to lose weight, drop his stage name and stop talking about wrestling if he wanted to make it in Hollywood.
The `Fast and the Furious` star shot to fame in the mid-1990s as a regular performer with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) adopting the name `The Rock` and becoming one of the franchise`s most recognisable wrestlers before making a crossover to movies with a role as the Scorpion King in 2001`s `The Mummy Returns`, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
However, Johnson has now shared that he was asked to make some serious changes if he wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. Speaking on `CBS Sunday Morning`, he said: “They said, `Okay, great. But now here`s what you have to do: You have to stop working out as much. You have to lose weight. You can`t call yourself The Rock. You can`t talk about wrestling. Let`s stay away from all that.`”
Also Read: ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ finishes a 100-day run at the box office
Host Tracy Smith then asked him: “These are all the things they told you? `Don`t be this anymore`?” and the star replied: “That`s right. So, I tried that, Tracy, I tried getting smaller, losing weight. It all felt wrong.” Tracy then asked: “And once you started being yourself?” and he explained: “That was it. When that happened, a funny thing happened: Hollywood conformed around me. And years later, I`m sitting here with you.”
Johnson went on to land his first leading role, reprising his Scorpion King character for a self-titled 2002 spin-off and his Hollywood career took off. He eventually scored a lucrative recurring role in the `Fast and The Furious` franchise as well as leading the cast of action movies such as `San Andreas` and `Skyscraper`.
Also Read: `Game of Thrones` star Lena Headey gets married for third time