How Dwayne Johnson got his groove back

Look around and suddenly it seems like Dwayne Johnson is everywhere. Back on TV in Ballers. Starring in a new comedy with Kevin Hart. Every month there's another announcement concerning Hollywood's favourite post-millennial action hero.

Oh, and have you downloaded his alarm clock yet?

But flash back a few years, and it was Johnson's career that needed a wake-up call. He'd gone from being the wrestler known as The Rock to a big man in a series of smaller and smaller roles. Remember Doom? Race to Witch Mountain? Get Smart?

But today Johnson couldn't be bigger. Literally (come on, the guy's like 260 pounds now). His expanded role as Hobbs in the Fast and Furious franchise is racing ahead and that's just part of Johnson's rapidly expanding empire.

Johnson in demand

Later this year Johnson will channel his South Pacific heritage into the Disney animated movie Moana as a demigod. Then there's the adaptation of the arcade game Rampage in the works with Canadian director Brad Peyton. Next year will bring the big-screen version of Baywatch, followed by the comic-book inspired Shazam and Doc Savage from Shane Black, director of The Nice Guys.

So how did Johnson go from has-been to Hollywood's favourite strongman?

It's all thanks to Tooth Fairy.

Six years ago the low-concept comedy was the nadir of Johnson's career. In the film he appears as as Derek, a hockey goon who dons a tutu and tights to win back the trust of a child.

Compared to Johnson's current size, his 2010 version looked practically waif-like. Squished into the cuddly family-man role, Johnson came off as a generic Guy Smiley. Tooth Fairy was his agency's strategy to remove his wrestling character The Rock from the equation, putting some distance between Johnson and his former career.

Instead, it led to what Johnson calls his "moment of clarity."  

Johnson decided to stop shrinking to fit into Hollywood's mould. He wanted one more shot at being himself. He changed publicists and agents, joining forces with WME's Ari Emanuel, the superagent who inspired Jeremy Piven's character on Entourage.

Soon afterward, Johnson was recruited into the cast of Fast and Furious and began finding projects to fit his larger-than-life persona.  

Social media muscle

The Rock has a way of supercharging franchises. With his 55 million followers on Instagram, plus Facebook, Snapchat and more, he's a Hulk-sized hype machine. Dany Garcia, Johnson's ex-wife, now works as his producing partner. She suggested to Fortune that Johnson's social media skills add over $15 million in marketing value for each project.

While Johnson's films wax and wane in quality, his global audience of fans respond to his authenticity. Johnson may not be the smoothest customer in the room. He doesn't have Brad Pitt's dashing looks or Ryan Gosling's laid-back hipster charm.

He's a 6-5" bald, black Samoan who looks like a walking He-Man figure. Johnson not only knows it, he revels in it.

Watch any of his cuss-filled Instagram posts and you 'll see the brand of a man ready to laugh at himself.

CFL washout

Part of that humility comes from his experience in Canada in 1995, where he washed out of the CFL's Calgary Stampeders after only two months. Released from his contract, he found himself in Miami with only $7 in his pocket. (hence the name of his company Seven Bucks Productions).

Battling depression and self-doubt, Johnson called his father, Rocky, who came from a long line of wresters. Broke and out of options, Dwayne Johnson decided to follow in Rocky's footsteps.

In 2014 I had a chance to speak to Dwayne Johnson just as the avalanche of The Rock was beginning, as part of a press junket for Hercules. In person Johnson looms over you, but he has the good manners of Mary Poppins. As we sat down to chat he complimented me on my watch, a bit of buttering up you see from the best-trained actors.

Dwayne Johnson, star of Hercules, on going from darkness into light

10 years ago

Duration 3:02

Hercules star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson admits that overcoming depression helped inspire his desire to become an actor

In the interview I wanted to get to the root of this actor who's shown remarkable range in movies such as Be Cool and Pain & Gain, yet seems fixated on his physique. He's talked of Jimmy Stewart's It's a Wonderful Life as of one of his favourite films, but would Hollywood hire Johnson as the next George Bailey with biceps the size of cantaloupes?

His answer hinted at things to come. He said the way he was perceived was changing. While Hollywood played catch-up, his production company was busy tailoring projects to his super-sized ambitions.

Decency and desire

Today The Rock stands in the pantheon alongside the movie strongmen who inspired him: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone. They were the icons that drove him into the weight room with a desire to transform himself.

What sets Johnson apart is that under deltoids you could park a truck on lies a layer of vulnerability. The heroes he plays are often lacking something.

Look at Spencer, the ex-NFL player from Ballers who realizes his brawn can only take him so far. Or Raymond, the divorced dad from San Andreas who is still pining for his wife. Even Bob, the bully-smashing CIA agent from Central Intelligence, still feels like the chubby wallflower on the inside. 

Under the intimidating muscles and ink is a basic level of decency and a desire to be liked. While 2017 is setting up to be the year of The Rock, we're still waiting for a director who will challenge Johnson as an actor the way he pushes himself in the gym.