Another close encounter with the Gentle Giant

Did you know why champion wrestler Dwayne Douglas Johnson, 32, is called The Rock and not, say, The Pebble?

The answer is simple: "Because a rock is better than a pebble."

But I bet that you didn’t know that The Rock...

• Stands 6’5"

• Weighs 345 pounds (waistline is 36"; biceps, 21")

• Wears size 14 shoes and double X shirts

• Eats 10 eggs (white only) for breakfast; chicken breast or fish, veggies, baked potato or pasta or spaghetti for lunch; and some red meat, steak and, again, chicken breast for dinner, downed not with wine but only with water (two gallons a day)

• Snacks on pizza or doughnuts or, again pasta or spaghetti (but only in small amounts)

• Gets eight to 10 hours of sleep a day (less than that, he said, "I get very cranky – so beware!")

• Lists football and basketball as his favorite sports (aside from wrestling)

• Is a Baptist

• Took up Criminology in college (a degree he was never able to put into practice)

• Considers Martin Luther King "my hero" because of his courage "to stand up in the face of adversity and to die for a cause, for what he believed was right"

• And looks up to his mom (a Samoan) as his role model because "she’s a very strong woman."

I gathered these basics about The Rock in April last year when I first interviewed him in L.A. for his first starrer, Scorpion King (a hit), a follow-up to his movie debut in the Brendan Fraser topbiller Mummy Returns. The Rock (declared World Wrestling Federation champion at 26, making him the youngest title-holder) shot his "bit part" in that movie for only two days and yet he was used as a big come-on in the movie’s promo – with remarkable success.

A few weeks ago, I was face-to-face again with The Rock also in L.A., this time for his latest starrer, Columbia Pictures’ Rundown (titled Welcome to the Jungle in other parts of the world), in which he co-stars with American Pie naughty guy Seann William Scott (featured in Conversations last Sunday, Oct. 12).

Directed by Peter Berg (also an actor), Rundown topped the US box-office four weeks ago when it raked in more than $24 million on its opening weekend.

As in our first encounter, I found The Rock to be a gentle giant, clean-cut and bathroom-fresh, his handshake firm and friendly and, if he didn’t have such an overpowering presence, could have been a college boy punctuating his every sentence with a smile and his own subtle brand of humor.

As usual in this kind of Conversation with Hollywood biggies, the warm-up questions revolve around the movie at hand.

Tell me about The Rundown.

"It’s a mix between Midnight Run and Indiana Jones, but with more comedy. I play Beck, a bounty hunter. Beck is ready to get out of the business but he makes a promise to his crime boss to do one last job and that’s to go down to the Amazon and pick up Travis (Scott’s character). Things become complicated, made more so by the character played by Christopher (Walken, as a drug lord in control of the rain forest where Travis chooses to hide) and an army of monkeys that attack Seann and me."

What’s so likeable about your character?

"His simplistic view on life. Even if he lives in the underworld, he’s still a man of his word. When he says he’s going to get the job done, the job does get done."

I bet you had fun working with Seann.

"You bet! One scene that I loved shows Seann and me hanging upside down from ropes in the jungle, after being snatched in a pig snare. We were trying to escape and those howler monkeys – the most evil monkeys on earth – jumped on us. One of them got a little frisky on my face. Did I enjoy it? I hated it!"

Arnold Schwarzenegger (then just running for Governor of California – he won!) did a walk-on part in Rundown. How do you feel being called "The New Arnold Schwarzenegger?"

"What did you call me? Oh, it feels great; it’s very, very flattering. But, you know, I never had the intention to take over from Arnold or any action actor for that matter. I just want to make fun and entertaining movies, whether they’re comic or dramatic. My intention is to be somebody else."

Did you also have fun working with Arnold, even only very briefly?

"Oh, yes, we had. He was just like, you know, ‘I’ll have fun!’ We had fun that day on the set."

Did you get any pointers from him?

"No, we didn’t have a chance to talk that much on the set. He was very busy but he was nice and gracious enough to do a cameo. He signed everybody’s autograph but not mine. I don’t know why."

What sort of special preparation did you do for Rundown? You and Seann tumble down the side of a mountain, you were hung upside down, you did a lot of running in the jungle... It’s a very physical role.

"One of the preparations was learning how to load and unload guns. But I should have trained getting used to those monkeys."

You were insured, of course!

"Yes. I think so."

What kind of regular diet and workout do you follow?

"I just try to eat clean – you know, I avoid fried and salty food. I monitor my sugar and carbo intake. My workout varies from doing cardiovascular exercise in the morning. Sometimes, I go get a horse at the stable and throw it on my back. And I just run – with the horse on my back! People can’t believe it; they have to see me do it to believe it."

If you were not a wrestler-actor, what would you have been?

"I would have been a really bad comedian. I would have been an unsuccessful stand-up comic. I would have been booed off the stage; the audience would have thrown tomatoes at me."

You have tattoos all over your shoulders. Are they removable or permanent?

"Oh, they’re permanent. It took almost 35 hours to do them. The tattoos tell the whole story of my life. The design is basically Polynesian."

So what’s the story of your life, based on those tattoos?

"It’s not really my biography but rather most of my principles and values in life, such as loyalty, and the foundations of my life. There are the eyes of my ancestors looking over me, my wife and my daughter. The shark teeth represent my love for the island. It was a spiritual guy in Hawaii who designed the tattoos. He said a prayer and then his hands just moved and moved all over my shoulders until the tattoos were done."

What are some of the guiding principles in your life?

"For me, just to always remember that there’s no success without some sort of struggle, whether it’s a little success or a big success. There also has to be sacrifice that has to be made."

What sacrifices have you made?

"Well, only six or seven years ago, I had nothing. I literally had only seven dollars in my pocket. I was 23 and didn’t have money, so I decided to move back in with my parents. I graduated from college. After graduation, you’re supposed to be ready to go out and tackle the world. When you graduate from the same school where I did, the University of Miami, you’re expected to play professional football. I didn’t. That all got sacrificed, you know, and I started to wonder, ‘What am I gonna do now?’ In film, you sacrifice a lot of things, too. I’ve been away for four months, doing Walking Tall in Vancouver, and I missed my family very much."

Why did you take up Criminology?

"I’ve always been interested in Law. I originally wanted to work with the Secret Service but I decided I didn’t. At that time, it was too late. I already got my requirement to get a degree, but...And that’s what happened."

Was not being able to play football a frustration – and you landed in wrestling instead?’

"Yeah, in a way. Life is unpredictable. You never know what’s gonna happen. You never know what lies around the corner. But at least, it’s nice to have a plan."

Going back to Arnold...Will you vote for him in the California recall election for Governor? (This Conversation was done a month before the election.)

"I won’t tell but I do support him in terms of...well, we’ve been talking about making sacrifices and Arnold and his family are making big sacrifices with his decision to go into politics. It’s a big step and I support him all the way. He’s a smart guy and if he wins, I don’t think he’ll do a horrible job."

Do you think he’ll make a good governor?

"Yeah. But then, I don’t know him personally and I don’t know his political agenda. I don’t get involved in politics."

Once and for all, will you vote for Arnold?

(Breaking into a wide smile) "I’ll vote for him only if he gives me all of his projects, all of his movies."

With fame and fortune and the successes you’re enjoying now, how do you keep your feet firmly on the ground?

"I always remember where I came from. I always believe that if you were not a good person before success, then success will magnify that. But if you’re basically a good person, success won’t spoil you at all. Always remember to look back."

I’m curious. How did you get to be so huge? Did you come from a family of giants?

"Yes, I did. Literally. Everybody in my family is big. Everybody is huge, everybody is tall. Everybody is into wrestling."

What’s the most dangerous thing that you’ve done as a wrestler?

"As a wrestler, I didn’t really take that many chances. In acting, I haven’t done any crazy thing to put my job in jeopardy. Maybe the most stupid thing that I’ve done was talk back to my wife. When I woke up the next morning, I just told her, ‘I’m sorry!’ That was it."

You’re a Baptist. What’s your idea of God?

"A Supreme Being. I have a special relationship with God."

If half of you is Samoan, what’s the rest of you?

"American."

Is a giant like you afraid of anything, anybody?

"Oh, yes, I am. The Big Man Upstairs. That’s Who I am afraid of."

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