Dwayne Johnson Opens Up About The Most Intense Commitment Of His Entire Career
Dwayne Johnson knows a thing or two about intensity. The most electrifying man in all of entertainment has done it all from professional wrestling to becoming a comic book hero come to life. He first broke into pop culture superstardom as the face of the "Attitude Era" in WWE, then known as the WWF. In 2003, he left the company to pursue film acting full-time.
"The Scorpion King" himself starred in such films as "The Mummy Returns," "Walking Tall," and the cult classic "Southland Tales" in his early film career. He went on to become something of a franchise guy when he starred in such films as "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," and of course, "Fast Five," the movie that arguably cemented him as an A-List megastar (via IMDb).
With the option to be more choosy with his role selection and the ability to launch projects of his choosing, The Rock went on to star in hit movie after hit movie. And the film that ultimately became Johnson's dream project also required an intense commitment for an already intense superstar.
The Rock had a pretty intense regimen to bulk up for Black Adam
Dwayne Johnson made an Instagram post documenting the most intense commitment of his career. He pointed to the character he played in the long-in-the-works "Black Adam" movie. He wrote, "Teth Adam rose from a slave to champion to the Man in Black." The Rock himself literally went from the people's champion in WWF to "Black Adam." He even went from once being homeless to becoming one of the highest grossing actors in Hollywood. He said that the transformation into becoming Black Adam, "was one of the most grueling, intense & demanding commitments of my entire career – including football and wrestling."
Johnson elaborated further in an interview with Men's Journal. He said, "That really started with my college football career at the University of Miami. We were national champions and had the pleasure of competing for the national title on two other occasions. From there it only got more intense, especially when I began my professional wrestling career. Getting the greenlight for Black Adam was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to raise the bar yet again." Once he got to the set on the first day of "Black Adam," Johnson was in a state of disbelief. He felt all the responsibility of being the first person to portray the character in a live-action movie, and it felt good and right to the actor.
Dwayne Johnson may have trained to become Black Adam, but he felt like he was born to play the role
According to his Instagram post, Dwayne Johnson attributes "health, wellness, balance, diet, discipline, and iron" to his success in that transformation to take over that role. He told Men's Journal, "I started training for Black Adam when I came out of the womb. I believe I was born to play this character." The Rock may have actually truly been born to inhabit the role because he has stuck with the "Black Adam" project throughout much of his career.
All the way back in 2007, when the movie was set up as a "Shazam" movie, Johnson expressed interest in playing the anti-hero Black Adam. Through several false starts and a whole DC Extended Universe later, Johnson finally had his dream project come true. He told Men's Journal, "Once the start date was agreed on by our Seven Bucks production company, the rest of my team, Warner Bros. Studio, and DC Comics, I started to build an exhaustive training program with my coach Dave Rienzi. I wanted to come into this in the best shape of my career."
Dwayne Johnson trains so hard so that he can celebrate with cheat meals
Dwayne Johnson knew he had a lot riding on the success of "Black Adam." The former football player couldn't fumble the project he had worked so closely with for over 15 years. He said in his Instagram post, "We had one shot to establish Black Adam as the most powerful and unstoppable force on this planet, so we removed all the muscle padding from my superhero suit and we put in the work. Our hard work paid off — Black Adam became my biggest box office opening of my career as a leading man. The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe has changed."
The Rock cheekily ended the post by saying, "And Black Adam LOVES his cheat meals." Johnson usually documents his epic cheat meals on his Instagram. Mountains of food are often pictured as Johnson takes his cheat days very seriously. A post from 2021 shows The Rock going to town on two burgers he calls "Big Daddies." After consuming all the calories the superstar usually does and the intense daily workouts he focuses on, he really goes all out to treat himself on his cheat days.