Dwayne Johnson on fatherhood and dealing with his weaknesses
‘Sometimes maybe one of the meanings of life is actually understanding who you really are and being comfortable with that.’
LOS ANGELES — The former professional wrestler-turned actor-producer Dwayne Johnson opened up to us about love, fatherhood, and dealing with his weaknesses. We told Dwayne that one of the most interesting elements of the story of his latest fantasy adventure comedy film, “Jumanji: The Next Level,” was about accepting one’s own body, who he is, and even though we have weaknesses, it doesn’t necessarily destroy us. So can he evaluate when he had to overcome his own prejudicial weaknesses and if he has always been comfortable in his own skin?
“Well no, I haven’t always been comfortable in my own skin,” the 47-year-old actor admitted. “Like a lot of people, I struggled for some time to figure out and understand that sometimes you open up with what is the meaning of life, a great question, and sometimes maybe one of the meanings of life is actually understanding who you really are and being comfortable with that. So for some time I struggled with that and just trying to figure out my own place, especially when I transitioned into Hollywood, it was daunting. And I came in with some nice pomp and circumstance with ‘The Scorpion King’ and I was able to establish a name through a franchise, a money franchise. But it took some time to figure out who I was, it took some time for me to figure out who I was and find my footing, my ground into Hollywood. So it took a little while there. But no, in terms of just being comfortable in my own skin, I mean I just struggled with that too, I think as a teenager, as we all do.”
Did people try to point out his own weaknesses because we don’t point them out ourselves?
“Well, yes,” he replied. “I remember specifically as I got a little older and I tried to make the transition to Hollywood, it was met with well what are your goals, and then I would express what my goals were, and at that time there was no blueprint for a pro-wrestler who was half-black, half-Samoan, who could make a funny face with half an eyebrow. At that time, if your goal is to have some longevity as a career, being in film, it was a lot of you can’t, you can’t be this name, you can’t be this size, and you can’t do a lot of things. Therefore, you have to change. So those things were pointed out to me. Then often times if you don’t know, if you are trying to figure who you are and trying to figure out your place, especially in this world of Hollywood and this business, you buy into that, as I did for a little while, until I realized that I was going to no longer buy into it.”
Does he enjoy fatherhood and what kind of a father is he?
“I love being a father, I really do,” he disclosed. “I think I had a challenging relationship with my own dad, but he also had a very challenging upbringing himself. So he loved me to all the capacity that he had, which still made it very challenging for us. So that was my resource. So growing up and getting a little older, I couldn’t wait to become a dad. And then once I became a dad, I realized that there’s a difference between being a dad and being a father and I realized that and embrace that and love it.”
Dwayne added: “I have an 18 old daughter and a daughter who is going to be four in a few weeks and a daughter who is going to be two in about five months, so it’s just various ages and stages. And they continue to be my biggest, not only inspiration, but source of love and also my biggest educators. I continue to learn constantly. And as far as being a good father, I think I am a good dad, I would like to think.”