"Does anyone hate Dwayne Johnson? Is that possible?" How ‘La Roca’ has conquered the world
'Jungle Cruise', Disney's latest adventure, prolongs the public's love affair with the star, who in 2020 was once again the highest-paid actor in the world.
Year 2032. The former fighter and actor Dwayne Johnson, known by the nickname of The Rock (The Rock), leads the race for the presidency of the United States. Critical voices accuse him of being part of the elite and living outside the problems of the average American. In order to silence them, Johnson gives a series of interviews to expose to the public his humble origins and how the concerns of the popular classes are not alien to him. It is the premise of Young Rock (Young Rock), a biographical comedy released this year by the NBC network (at the moment, without broadcasting plans in Spain), where the star (California, 49 years old) jokes about the rumors that have been pointing to years his candidacy for the White House.
But not much either, because, at the same time, he insists that he will attend if the people want. According to a poll published last April and carried out on a sample of 30,000 people, 46% of the American population would vote for The Rock: on a base of 329 million inhabitants with the right to register in the census, it would double the record of the president most voted in history, Joe Biden. Not coincidentally, he is the only candidate Dwayne Johnson has asked for a vote for in his entire career.
For now, in 2021, the popular pull of him is in top form. The family adventure Jungle Cruise, the latest film starring the interpreter of Samoan descent, has raised 90 million dollars (almost 76 million euros) in its opening weekend, between accumulated at the world box office and paid viewings in the Disney + platform. It is the second best Disney premiere of the year, only below Black Widow, and above Cruella or Raya and the last dragon. It is also another proof of Johnson's great versatility in front of all audiences: this same year he plans to premiere on Netflix the action thriller Red Alert, he has just finished shooting his first foray into the universe of superheroes, Black Adam, in the DC's lineup, and before the pandemic he had time to appear in the video for Taylor Swift's song The Man, an artist the six-foot-tall ex-wrestler has repeatedly shown genuine devotion to.
Twenty years after his first appearance in the cinema, with a small role in The Return of the Mummy (2001), The Rock, which achieved popularity by breaking chairs on the backs of his opponents or throwing them flying out of the ring during the fighting of WWE has surprisingly become a surefire asset for Disney productions - before Jungle Cruise, he starred in the comedy Surprise Dad (2007), headlined the version of Haunted Mountain (2009), and put his voice and talents on the song at the service of the god Maui in Vaiana (2016) - and a personality, without ironies, presidential.
He is the American with the most followers on Instagram, where, on an almost daily basis, he shares motivational photos and videos to encourage people to make an effort, work and sculpt his body. He was the first person in the world to echo the execution of Osama Bin Laden, even before then President Barack Obama (he had a marine cousin who reported to him live). His films have grossed a total of $ 5 billion (in euros, 4.2 billion) and he is estimated to have a net worth of 400 million (in euros, 337 million).
Steven Gaydos, executive editor of Variety and seasoned Hollywood star watcher, called him the direct heir to another action hero with an interest in family movies and political management, actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Dwayne Johnson understood, cunningly, that staying typecast as the big guy who knocks people out and runs through burning buildings wasn't the way to build a career. And his gifts for comedy, like Arnold's, are tremendous ”. The Guardian journalist Steve Rose, in turn, wondered: “Does anyone hate Dwayne Johnson? Is that possible? One suspects that if there was a person on the planet who could express mild dislike for him, Johnson would go to his house and make him pancakes, or simply send him gifs raising his world famous right eyebrow until he succumbed. "
Powerful and charming
One peculiarity that drew the attention of British critic Peter Bradshaw about Dwayne Johnson is that, while Schwarzenegger had the Terminator or Stallone Rocky, the actor's popularity does not seem to be founded on an iconic character, but on himself. “Like Arnie [Schwarzenegger], he's personable and self-aware enough to play comedy and family movies, but unlike him, he doesn't do it ironically. With his open face, big eyes, and his unpretentious, non-aggressive personality, Johnson can pull off those performances, ”he reflected.
Credible, good-natured and likeable in Jungle Cruise as the improbable anabolic version of Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, The Rock has been able to combine his successes in the Fast & Furious films (which he joined in the decisive fifth episode, a before and after for the saga at a commercial and critical level) with the reactivation of the Jumanji franchise, whose two installments have garnered figures close to a Marvel success. That variety of records seems, in a way, an extension of his public image, which makes him able to alternate naive gestures such as supporting an initiative against sexual harassment called "Treat women as you would treat Dwayne Johnson" with other arsonists. Publications like the one he dedicated to Vin Diesel questioning his professionalism, the origin of a long soap opera between the two muscular idols. “My colleagues are incredible and I love them. Instead, my companions are a different story. Some are true professionals, but others are not, "wrote La Roca on his Instagram account at the end of filming the eighth installment of Fast & Furious.
"I have only spent a couple of hours with him and I already feel that I am the best friend of Dwayne Johnson in the world," wrote journalist Caity Weaver sarcastically, dazed by the star's sympathy, in the profile she dedicated to him in GQ. “When he meets you, the first thing he does is ask you 600 questions about you and remember the answers forever. What is my favorite Christmas carol? It is something that I have had to consider after Dwayne Johnson consulted me 10 months before Christmas. If you're a kid, you won't be able to walk past him without high-five. If you're in a wheelchair, be prepared to hear a Beowulf-style epic poem about your bravery. "
Working the trick
A leitmotif of the autobiographical fiction Young Rock is the concept that Rocky Johnson, Dwayne's father and also a professional wrestler, instills in his son: "Working the gimmick." It has to do with shaping the numbers and improving the spectacularity of the performances in wrestling, but for both it ends up being, also, a philosophy of life. Frequently, it consists of throwing a big bluff to, in the moment of truth and with the time available, make it real, beat all your reasonable possibilities or, at least, put together a drill so sophisticated and elaborate that it sneaks.
If the story of Dwayne Johnson is inspiring even for the most cynical, it is because of the constant defiance of expectations that his figure embodies: this man with the appearance of being able to hold a car with his bare hands has faced three depressions, he has lived through poverty. , has been doomed to juvenile delinquency. But he is also the first to dismantle meritocratic myths when he talks about his experience in football, where he failed to succeed despite a strong work ethic and giving it his all. “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. In fact, asking for help is our superpower, and men, especially us, fall into the trap of rejecting vulnerability, because we always want to feel that we are strong and that we can take over the world, "he declared in a recent interview with People, the magazine that this year has named him the number one reason to love the United States, above vaccines against coronavirus, the holiday of July 4 or NASA's Perseverance robot.
With 94% approval from the public, Jungle Cruise is the best entry that Dwayne Johnson has made on the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator throughout his career, as he celebrated this week on Instagram. The good understanding with the Catalan filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra during filming led The Rock to sign him to direct Black Adam, which will premiere in 2022. And that relationship promises to be extended in at least one more installment, since the plans for a sequel to Jungle Cruise are already on the table.
In The Rock's first pure action film, Stepping Strong (2004), the actor played an ex-marine who returned to his hometown and found the old sawmill closed: now, the municipality's main source of income was a casino . After discovering that in the establishment, gamblers were cheated with fake dice and drugs were sold to minors, and in the face of the inaction of the authorities, the protagonist took a stick, smashed the tables and gave the beating of his life to all related human beings in any way with the business. Not satisfied with it, he ran for sheriff's election to shut it down permanently. In the film, it is so obvious that everyone is going to vote for Dwayne Johnson in those elections that not even footage is spent showing the process: he simply announces his intentions, there is an ellipsis and he is already taking office. Stomping is, of course, fiction. But in the context of a career where the sky is the limit, and with an enormous affection and influence among the public, perhaps it is necessary to consider if it will not be, perhaps, the statement of the greatest trick that he has ever worked.
