THE ROCK, or to use his given name, Dwayne Johnson, is standing in his home offce in Los Angeles, a bright, inviting space into which sunlight pours through French doors. Next to Johnson is a life-size replica of a T. rex skull, an unapologetically masculine piece of decor. Behind him on a shelf are bottles of his tequila brand, Teremana. Johnson is wearing a black Project Rock muscle tee, with tattoos creeping out of the sleeves onto his mountainous biceps. He’s also wearing red shorts and occasionally grabs at his knee. Needless to say, he is in awesome shape.
Johnson is fresh off the buzz surrounding Black Adam (streaming December 22 on HBO Max), a passion project he’d been thinking about for 15 years. It’s a notable addition to his canon for a number of reasons. First, as many have posited in relation to Tom Cruise, you wonder if Johnson is too big a star for comic-book fare. Are the power of his personality and the wattage of his charisma somehow neutered in spandex? Time will tell on that one. Second, the film required the most likable and popular actor of his generation to play an antihero. Finally, it also required him to get in the best shape of his life. “That was our goal, for me to bring in the best physique possible,” says Johnson. “So the challenge with that is not only do you set the bar high—which is fine . . . bring it on!—but then you realize you have to maintain that for months.”
Johnson prides himself on being the hardest worker in any room he’s in—if he and Cruise were ever to share the screen, that would be a hashtag-palooza. It’s this ethic that’s kept him at the head of the Hollywood pack for more than two decades now. And as he enters his 50s, Johnson’s not letting up: His day job includes finishing an adventure comedy with Chris Evans, as well as shooting several undisclosed movies and season 3 of NBC’s . Then there’s his work with his brands: Under Armour’s Project Rock, Teremana Tequila, and Zoa energy drinks. And he’s a coowner of the XFL, set to kick off in February 2023. All told, his net worth is a swole $1 billion-plus. At home, he’s busy raising his two younger daughters, Jasmine, six, and Tiana, four, with his wife, Lauren Hashian. (His 21-year-old daughter, Simone, with his ex-wife and current business partner, Dany Garcia, recently signed a deal with the WWE.) If anything, Johnson says, this is the time when, as a man, you’ve got to double down on hard work. Between the Rock and a hard place, perhaps. That’s the uncomfortable space he’s always inhabited. That’s where you have to go to get results.
