Film Journal July 2018

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ROCK STAR © 2018 Universal. All Rights Reserved. 36 FILMJOURNAL.COM / JULY 2018 024-068.indd 36 5/23/18 3:38 PM
y John Hiscock Dwayne Johnson has a frame on his wall containing seven dollars—a five and two ones—which has special significance for him. “It’s a constant reminder of the time when I literally only had seven dollars in the whole world and how grateful I will always be to be in the position I am today,” he says with a wide smile. He was 23 years old and hoping to make it to the NFL as a professional football player. He thought he was on the way, having played one game in the Canadian Football League in Vancouver. But then his football career came to an abrupt end. “I was so excited because I was living my dream in Vancouver and then they cut me and told me, ‘You’re done. You’re not good enough. Hit the road,’” he recalls. “I had just seven dollars in my pocket. It was a very defining moment for me because I sunk into depression for a while, but through that I came back, I think better and with a bit more clarity.” We are talking in Los Angeles shortly after he has returned from another visit to Vancouver. But his situation now is very different from his earlier experience in the city. This time he was back as one of the most bankable stars in the world, starring in the Universal thriller Skyscraper, which was produced by his own company called, of course, Seven Bucks Productions. In Skyscraper, due for release on July 13, Johnson plays Will Sawyer, a FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and war veteran who now assesses security for skyscrapers. In Hong Kong he is framed for a blaze in the tallest, safest building in the world and must go on the run to find those responsible, clear his name and rescue his family who are trapped inside the building. For much of the production, Vancouver stood in for Hong Kong. “For me it was a great personal story, because to go back to Vancouver as I am today and bring this big production with me meant a lot to me personally. Yes, there’s a tax incentive, and also it was a really phenomenal backdrop for Skyscraper.” Charming, funny and something of a goofball, the muscular, six-foot-four actor formerly known as The Rock is also a shrewd and canny businessman whose production company made the hugely successful Jumanji sequel and has a full slate of tentpole movies (The Janson Directive, Shazam!, Alpha Squad Seven, another Jumanji sequel) and original television programming including the popular HBO comedy series “Ballers,” in which he stars. Johnson talks easily and smiles a lot. But while he often comes across as a something of an easygoing, lighthearted joker, he takes his work very seriously and becomes quite earnest when talking about it. He is, he insists, involved in every aspect of the business of being Dwayne Johnson. “I’m hands-on, 360 degrees, around every corner,” he says. “We’ve expanded Seven Bucks Productions out to digital, to creative. and we have opened up an advertising arm as well. So there’s a lot of things happening. “I surround myself with a lot of really smart people who are a lot smarter than I am at what they do, because I’m not one to just rest on a problem; I like to find the solution very quickly and often I don’t have the capacity to do so. So I bring in more people. “But the key and number-one goal for us is to make sure we always serve the audience first, whether it’s a TV show, a movie Dwayne Johnson in this summer’s Skyscraper (left), and recent releases Rampage (top) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (right). Dwayne Johnson has become a franchise brand. FJI talks with the box-office superstar about his career and future aspirations. © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and RatPac-Dune Entertainment LLC Frank Masi/SMPSP © © 2017 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. JULY 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM 37 024-068.indd 37 5/23/18 3:38 PM
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y David Pearce FJI Australia / New
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