‘The Rock’ gets a star
LOS ANGELES: He’s been named “sexiest man alive” and “world’s highest paid film star”; now Dwayne Johnson can celebrate being accepted into the Hollywood establishment with a Walk of Fame star.
The 45-year-old football player turned wrestling pro and then actor looking sharp in a black suit, was joined by longtime partner Lauren Hashian and their almost 2-year-old daughter, Jasmine, at the ceremony in Hollywood Boulevard.
“I didn’t want to write anything down. I figured this is such a monumental moment and significant time for me, it’s probably best I just speak from the heart and from my gut,” Johnson said.
He told cheering fans the 2,624th star on the Walk was the result of years of hard work, voicing gratitude for the opportunities he’d been given and the friends and family helped him.
“This moment is so significant because it’s full circle. 2018 will mark 18 years in Hollywood, and that is a very long time of blood, sweat and earning respect.”
Johnson announced on Monday on Instagram that he and Hashian were expecting a second child, hours before they stepped out for the premiere of his latest movie, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman paid tribute to the actor, who entertained the possibility of running for president in 2020.
“Dwayne said he would use me as a barbell if I didn’t show up,” Rothman joked, before describing his friend as a “global superstar with hundreds of millions of fans and billions of dollars in box office”.
Reputed to be one of the hardestworking stars in Hollywood, he has been in 14 movies in just four years, including previous instalments of the Fast and Furious franchise, Hercules, Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Empire State, Pain and Gain and Moana. AFP