Dwayne Johnson had a plan to make it as a football player. The result, he left the CFL with $7 bucks in his pocket. No disrespect to his potential football career, but DJ got so much more. He became the face of sports entertainment and after that, he conquered the world of Hollywood.
However, as we'll reveal in the following, the road was not an easy one while trying to make it in Hollywood. DJ was forced to conform with the Hollywood standard, and it forced him to make decisions he wanted no part of. Dwayne Johnson would finally make the choice to follow his vision and go off on his own. That moved proved to be crucial as it launched his career to the next level.
We'll take a look at how it all went down and why DJ was driven to make such a decision.
Dwayne Johnson Was Told To Give Up Everything He Loved At The Start Of His Hollywood Career
Dwayne Johnson made the bold decision to leave the world of sports entertainment on the highest of highs. At the start, his move wasn't paying off, at least from a morale standpoint. DJ was appearing in projects that he didn't visualize for his career and to make matters worse, he was told by his team to completely change. That meant, stop hitting the gym, and don't bring up your past.
DJ used this as motivation during his role in Black Adam believe it or not.
"I felt really constrained. And like I had the chains on me. And people telling me, ‘Well you can do it like this, you have to do it like that.’ For example, when I first got to Hollywood, many moons ago I was told -- out of the world of pro wrestling — I was told, ‘Well, if you wanna make it if you want to be a star’ — the biggest stars at that time were George Clooney and Johnny Depp and Will Smith.
"I was told then, ‘You can’t call yourself The Rock. Don’t talk about pro wrestling. You gotta lose weight, go on a diet, you’re too big, don’t go to the gym as much."
Given that he was new to the world of Hollywood, DJ listened to the advice. However, suddenly, everything changed, and the actor sent Hollywood a message. Not only was the message received, but it changed his career for the better.
Dwayne Johnson Sent Hollywood A Message By Firing His Team And Betting On Himself
His ex-wife and manager Dany Garcia was well aware that DJ was moving away from his core, "Dwayne was moving away from his core of who he was.” Following the Tooth Fairy, DJ had enough. He fired his team and went on with his own vision. The days of conforming were done.
"There were a lot of things like that I was being told and if you don’t know any better you buy into it. And I bought into it for a couple of years before I said, ‘This ends right now. And I’m gonna be myself and at least if I fail, I’m gonna fail being me."
DJ made a big career change, and it was all about going back to his vision, which included hitting the gym and taking on roles in big budget films.
"You know what happens when you have a vision, and you want it executed in a certain way, you need people around you who are going to believe in that too."
“And at that time, there were some things that were happening… and I knew I had to make a change.”
DJ would go on to reveal that there wasn't a particular film that got him feeling down, it was just an overall build up.
Dwayne Johnson's Bold Move To Switch Agency Was For The Better And It Changed His Career
Once The Rock listened to his own vision, he was out the door from CAA. The agency that shared the same vision with DJ turned out to be WME. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the agency made an offer DJ could not refuse, with 150 members of their staff onhand.
"On McMahon’s advice, Johnson spoke to WME’s Ari Emanuel, who flew to Johnson’s Florida home the next day and invited him and Garcia to a meeting in L.A. with about 150 WME staff, including the man who would become Johnson’s key rep, Brad Slater. Johnson was stunned by their enthusiasm and hunger, a hunger he shared," the publication writes.
DJ saw huge potential with the move and it instantly paid off, as he appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise. DJ was also seeking the potential of appearing in a franchise, something he did with Jumanji, Hobbs & Shaw, and The Jungle Book.
“I felt there were bigger and better opportunities,” he says. “I also felt there was franchise potential, hopefully multiple franchises in every genre — whether drama or comedy or action-comedy. I thought, ‘I want people around me who see this, too. And if we fail, that’s OK. We are going to fail swinging for the fences.’ “
DJ was right with his vision and he did it all on his own terms.