After his stint as a professional wrestler, Johnson made his film debut with The Mummy Returns (2001).
Dwayne Johnson, known mostly as The Rock, is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. In fact, he wrestled for the WWF for eight years before venturing into films. And with his acting stint, he has risen up to be one of the world's highest-grossing and highest-paid actors, and has starred in several films like The Scorpion King, Hercules, San Andreas, Baywatch, Fast & Furious films, among others.
Now as the actor turns 53 on May 2, let’s revisit some of his most loved film roles that resonated with the audience and made him popular.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the 2017 fantasy adventure comedy film, is the second main installment in the Jumanji film series, and a direct sequel to Jumanji (1995). The film stars Dwayne Johnson along with Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Nick Jonas, and revolves around a group of teenagers who come across Jumanji, which has now turned into a video game twenty-two years after the events of the 1995 film. Johnson played Dr. Smolder Bravestone, the in-game avatar of a high school student named Spencer.
The 2016 buddy action comedy film, helmed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, features Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson as two old high school classmates. Johnson as Bob Stone becomes a skilled — but quirky — CIA agent, and reconnects with his former classmate Calvin Joyner (played by Kevin Hart), thereby pulling him into a chaotic espionage mission to get hold of a terrorist who intends to sell satellite codes. The film emerged to be a hit and both the lead actors received praise from critics.
Furious 7, the 2015 action film helmed by James Wan, is the sequel to Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and the seventh installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. The film stars an ensemble cast including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and more alongside Johnson, who plays Luke Hobbs, a tough DSS (Diplomatic Security Service) agent. In this installment, he's sidelined early in the film following a brutal fight with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), but ends up returning later to help the Fast crew during the final showdown in Los Angeles.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the 2013 military science fiction action film, is the second installment in the G.I. Joe film series and the sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). It stars Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock, a heavy weapons specialist, who becomes the leader of the G.I. Joe's team after most of their unit is wiped out in an attack orchestrated by Cobra forces. His performance helped revive interest in the franchise and remains one of the film’s high points.
In Moana (2016), Dwayne Johnson became the voice of Maui, the larger-than-life demigod of the wind and sea. While Maui is a shapeshifting and ego-driven hero , he has a vulnerable side, and Johnson brings the character to life with a memorable performance that serves as a perfect combination of action and comedy. With the film, Johnson saw a major success in animation, and showed off his musical talent as well.
