31 Things About Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson We Bet You Didn’t Know

Dwayne Johnson, the pro-wrestler-turned-film star, has been in the limelight for years, yet his career continues to blossom. The actor, who never forgets to wear a smile on his face, is known not just for his heavyweight physique and action-packed roles, but also for his big heart and charity works. Here are some surprising facts about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that will make you love him even more:

1. In “The Scorpion King,” director Chuck Russell wanted the movie to feature a particular physical feat, which only “The Rock” could perform. This was the scene in which Johnson is lying on his back and springs to his feet. The director claimed that he had never seen a 6-foot, 3-inch man do that.
2. His character Hobbs in the “Fast Five” was actually envisioned for Tommy Lee Jones. But he was brought into the series because of fan-girl Jan Kelly’s suggestion that she would love to see Johnson and Vin Diesel work together on screen.
3. Just like his character Joe Kingman in the movie “The Game Plan,” he is a huge Elvis Presley fan and it was Johnson who even suggested the idea to the writers, who approved. In fact, most of the Elvis memorabilia his character owns in the movie belongs to him.
4. During the practice scene in the movie “Gridiron Gang,” he can be spotted wearing the number 94, which is actually a tribute to his collegiate career, as it was the same number he wore while playing with the Miami Hurricanes.
5. It was reported that in the movie “Doom,” he was actually offered the lead role of John Grimm, but he preferred the role of Sarge, an homage character to Master Sergeant Thomas Kelly, as he thought the character was more interesting.
6. In the 2014 movie “Hercules” the iconic scene where Hercules finally accepts his fate of being the son of Zeus was shot eight times. Every time, he reportedly blacked out fell to his knees. He had actually insisted on the Prop department locking him with real steel chains that he couldn’t break, in an effort to make the performance even more real.
7. He wanted to give his character in the Scorpion King a life of its own, rather than comparing it to “The Rock,” so he intentionally avoided using any of his WWF character’s trademark moves. However, he performs “The People’s Eyebrow,” as an acknowledgment to the “millions and millions” of Rock fans.
8. It was reported that during the filming of “The Rundown,” he missed his family very badly that he called his wife Dany and his daughter Simone to the sets in an effort to spend some quality time with them.
9. During the filming of the movie “The Game Plan,” production had to be postponed for several months, as Johnson injured himself in a football practice session and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon injury.
10. In preparation for his role of Driver in the movie “Faster,” he along with his co-stars Maggie Grace, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, underwent special one-day training at the Rick Seaman’s Stunt Driving School. He spent another two days learning “52 Blocks” especially for the fight scene in the club toilet.
11. His salary of $5.5 million for his titular character of “The Scorpion King,” earned him an entry into the Guinness Book Of Records for being paid the highest salary for a first-time leading man at the time.
12. It was reported that he received the script of “San Andreas,” while he was in Budapest shooting his 2014 movie “Hercules.” He reportedly stayed up until 3:30 in the morning to finish reading the script.
13. In the movie “The Rundown,” his own cousin Tanoai Reed plays his body double, and received the award for Best Overall Stunt by a Man at the 2004 Taurus World Stunt Awards. Unfortunately, his cousin Reed broke his ankle while filming the scene in which Beck and Travis are tumbling down a hillside with the Jeep.
14. In spite of being a tough guy and playing the tough character Sarge in “Doom,” he admitted that he felt nauseous after playing the original Doom games.
15. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson became the second WWE (WWF) wrestler to appear as a Joe, with his character of Roadblock in the “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”
16. For his role of Paul Doyle in the 2013 movie “Pain & Gain,” he actually had to bulk up to nearly 300 pounds, while his co-star Mark Wahlberg bulked up to 212 pounds. Both the actors along with the director Michael Bay reportedly took pay cuts to keep the movie’s budget down, which was just $20 million.
17. During the filming of the fight sequence between Balthazar and Mathayas in “The Scorpion King,” Johnson accidentally elbowed Michael Clarke Duncan in the jaw, as the latter leaned too far ahead. Duncan was reportedly knocked out for 5 seconds.
18. Right after that incident, Duncan stuffed his mouth with cotton to pretend his face was swollen such that he was not able to continue filming. Johnson thought he had really hurt Duncan and was felt extremely bad, when it was revealed as a prank. In the next take, Duncan is said to have ad-libbed “And pray you never hit me like that again.”
19. In the movie “The Rundown,” Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cameo says “Have fun” to Johnson, recognized by movie enthusiasts as a passing of the torch to an action hero of the next generation.
20. It was reported that for his character Driver in the movie “Faster,” Costume Designer Salvador Pérez Jr. purchased around thirty identical sets of clothes for him to wear throughout the shooting, as his character didn’t change clothes for the entire five-day period of the movie.
21. In preparation of his role of Raymond Gaines in the movie “San Andreas,” he is said to have spent a lot of time with LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department) Search and Rescue pilots, learning what they do. He felt it to have been very different from anything he had experienced before.
22. In the movie “Fast and Furious 6,” in the scene when his character Hobbs arrives at the barbecue, his line “you better hide that big ass forehead,” was reportedly improvised by him on spot. Tyrese Gibson’s loss of words reaction, as well as Ludacris spitting his drink, was actually genuine.
23. His appearance as The Scorpion King, in “The Mummy Returns,” was said to be his first big screen appearance not related to his WWF character of “The Rock.” Unfortunately, during the filming of the movie “The Mummy Returns,” he suffered from food poisoning and sunstroke and reportedly lost over ten pounds. He claimed that it was “the worst he had ever felt in his life.”
24. He is said to have underwent seven months of strict dieting combined with a heavily strength-emphasized workout plan, in preparation for his role of Lucas Hobbs in the “Furious 7.”
25. It was reported that he accepted the role of Chris Vaughn (as The Rock) in the movie “Walking Tall,” as he felt that it was the right thing to do.
26. His movie “Doom” was reportedly such a bomb with the movie critics that he joked about starring in it, while his father Rocky Johnson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
27. Just like his character of Joe Kingman in “The Game Plan,” he also suffered a season-ending shoulder separation in real life, while playing defensive tackle as a freshman at the University of Miami.
28. In preparation for his titular role in the movie “Hercules” Dwayne “The Rock Johnson” is said to have underwent a grueling training routine for eight months, prior to the beginning of the production.
29. During the filming of the “Walking Tall” movie, he was supposed to pretend to break the tail light of Jay Hamilton’s Porsche with a stick, but Johnson actually broke it for real, and then remembered that they had rented the car for one day to film that specific scene. He had immediately called the director Kevin Bray and asked “Uh, Kevin, did we just *buy* this $90,000 Porsche?” to which the reply was “Yes, thanks, Rock!”
30. He founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation in the year 2006. He, through his charity, has been helping at-risk and terminally ill children.
31. Dwayne Johnson Net Worth: $280 Million