There was a period shortly after leaving professional wrestling full time that Dwayne Johnson dropped his moniker “The Rock” entirely.
In an interview with Jamie Foxx while promoting Skyscraper, Johnson explained why he temporarily left his wrestling alter ego behind, and why he ended up regretting the decision.
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“I was told at [one] time, ‘Listen, you can’t talk about wrestling. You can’t go by The Rock. You can’t be as big [physically],” Johnson revealed on Foxx’s web talk show Off Script, produced by vodka manufacturer Grey Goose.
While transitioning from wrestling in the WWE to acting on the big screen, Johnson was originally credited in films like 2003’s The Rundown as “The Rock.” By 2005’s Southland Tales, Johnson dropped the nickname, but then changed management and eventually returned to “The Rock.” He’s now occasionally credited as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
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“I was tired of trying to be something I wasn’t,” he admitted. “The most important relationship I have [is the one with my fans]. So finally I reached a point where I said, ‘All right, two things have to happen: I’m gonna surround myself with a different group of people, different management, and then I’m gonna make sure that I just gotta be me.’”
Fans can catch Johnson saving the day in Skyscraper, in theaters Friday nationwide. Directed and written by Rawson M. Thurber, the film also stars Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Pablo Schreiber, Noah Taylor, Jason Day, and Hannah Quinlivan.
(via Entertainment Weekly)