Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has revealed that he was once told to completely change himself both physically and mentally in order to make it in Hollywood.
The Rock is one of the most popular WWE Superstars of all time and was a key figure in the most successful period in the company's history, known as 'The Attitude Era'.
His popularity soared to the point where he had arguably outgrown the business, which meant a career in Hollywood beckoned. He would make his movie debut with a cameo role in The Mummy Returns and that would earn him a starring role playing the same character in The Scorpion King.
Johnson would ultimately leave WWE and it was after that he appeared noticeably slimmer in movies like Welcome to the Jungle and Walking Tall.
Interestingly, it was only after he went back to embracing his 'Rock' persona and piling on the muscle again that he hit it big, helping to reinvigorate the Fast and Furious franchise with Fast Five.
He has subsequently become one of the highest-paid actors in the world thanks to franchises like Jumanji, while he also recently made his superhero debut, playing Black Adam for DC Comics.
How The Rock went back to being The Rock
Speaking to Men's Health magazine, he detailed some of the conversations he had when trying to make it in Hollywood.
"You can't call yourself The Rock. You can't talk about pro wrestling," Johnson said people told him.
"You can't be this big. You can't work out as much.
"Change your diet. Lose weight. If you want to be like Will Smith, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, who were the stars at that time, this is how you have to be.
"I tried that on for a few years, and then finally I said, 'Man, f**k this. I can't be like that. I'm not those guys. I could never be those guys. I'm not in a box. Don't tell me how to be. I'm going to be myself."
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