Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s early attempt at a babyface character is widely recognized for its significant failure, and the Hollywood megastar recalled the moment in a recent interview with Patrick-Bet David.
The Rock discussed his debut as Rocky Maivia and his eventual heel turn that saved his wrestling career.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his babyface run: “What [Vince] did say to me was, ‘I want you to go out there and smile. … I want the audience to feel that you’re grateful, so I want you to smile all the time.’ So I would go out every night and my music would hit, and I would come out and I would smile. But then when I would get beat, I had to smile, like, coming back to the locker room. And eventually, people just started to feel like, well, that’s not real. That’s not authentic. And I started to feel that, too. And it would eat me up inside.”
On getting the chance to turn heel: “I said, ‘Okay, I have one request. Can I have the microphone for two minutes? I just want to express myself.’ And he said, ‘Oh boy, I don’t know about that.’ ‘Just give me one minute.’ He said fine. … and within two months I became the hottest bad guy in the company, and then turned into The Rock.”
