The actor/pro wrestling champion - The Rock - talks about his upcoming movie and his acting roles on screen and off.
Q What is your fascination with tattoos?
The Rock: Well, in my culture, in Polynesian culture tattooing is very spiritual,
and it means a lot. It’s not like I have an anchor, and a butterfly, or
anything like that. It’s very powerful, it tells the story of
my life, and what’s important in my life. It’s a big process, and in
Polynesian culture tattooing is very, very meaningful.
Dwayne the Rock
Q: When you do movies – what do they do with the tattoos?
The Rock: Makeup. It’s’ like an air gun airbrush. We just find the right
matching of my skin, and it’s almost like magic. It’s really amazing because it stays on. You can sweat in it, you can put oil on it. It’s awesome.
Q: Do you think you still have something to prove as an actor?
The Rock: That’s a good question. No I don’t feel like I have to prove anything anymore right now. I feel good now. I wanted to get over that hump of being the Action guy. I knew that with time I would get there, with time and patience. Now I just want to continue to have a wide range of choice, continue to do different parts and have fun in the process. We’re not saving the world by doing movies so it’s a great job to have. I love it all.
Q: What attracted you to the role in “Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run?”
The Rock: I love John Woo and that was a big part of it. It was a strange experience meeting him because he is so quiet and doesn’t speak much. Most of the talking was done by his partner Terence Chang. But then at one point, because I felt the meeting was going bad, and that I needed John to like me, I let it go about how I love his movies and I’m gesturing how I can se myself with two guns shooting in every direction in slow motion with doves flying all around (laughs). At that moment he smiled and approved of it and I knew we had something going on.
Q: What do you miss about wrestling?
The Rock: The immediate reaction that you get from the audience because it’s live. The response is immediate and you don’t have to wait a year for the movie to be edited. You say something and you get the response. You say a joke and you get the response immediately whether the joke bombs or does well, you know right away.
Q: Is there more acting involved in acting or wrestling?
The Rock: Much more in acting. In wrestling, wrestling is like theater. It’s like a physical theater, and you can try and portray an array of emotions and you can try and evoke things from the audience, but still, it’s confrontational and it ultimately comes down to some sort of conflict and wrestling that will ultimately be decided in a match.
Q: But it’s choreographed?
The Rock: Of course it is.
Q: What do you mean it’s decided in the match?
The Rock: Well, within the story line of what I’m talking about because it’s a television show and that’s what wrestling is. Wrestling is four hours of television every week and with a script and with producers and writers and a director, and a television studio behind them and a network behind them that drives them. That’s what I mean, within the story line itself, a match is decided.
Q: What’s the weirdest gift or experience you’ve gotten from a wrestling fan?
The Rock: [Laughs] You know what’s funny, like all of the time, I see women and men tattoo themselves, and I love tattoos and they either have my bull or my name or I saw this really, one woman and she was beautiful, an attorney in Pittsburgh had my face tattooed on her thigh.
Q: How does that make you feel, you’re a global icon now
The Rock: It’s cool, man. It’s great.
Q: What are your insecurities?
The Rock: Well, I can’t reveal all my insecurities. It’s like I work out of fear and fear of going back to how I used to live eight or nine years ago when I had nothing and had no idea what I was going to do. So, I remember that, and the fear of going back to that drives me. So, that’s kind of human.
Q: What are you afraid of in real life?
The Rock: Well, I don’t like spiders. I’m not sure how many people just love spiders, like, ‘Oh, what a beautiful spider, let me pick it up.’ I do not like spiders.
Q: How important is your physical shape in real life?
The Rock: I really don’t care, and I really never have. Believe it or not, I’ve never really been that vain. I’ve just always liked working out and staying in shape and I try different workouts everyday and it’s a lifestyle of mine.
