Life Lessons From The Ultimate MH Cover Man, Dwayne Johnson

School Of Rock: Life Lessons From Dwayne Johnson

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The World's biggest movie star has a way of making you feel like an old friend. “Ben, buddy, how the fuck you been?” booms Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, down the line from LA. I instantly feel a smile creeping across my face. I spoke to Johnson a few years ago, not that I expected him to remember. Who knows if he really does? The point is, he sounds genuinely excited to be speaking to me now.

“Where are you?” I ask. “Now, I’m in one of the premier strip clubs outside of Los Angeles,” says Johnson with a chuckle. He’s actually in his trailer on the Universal lot. After the interview, he tells me, he’s going to fly to Hawaii to shoot his next movie. “Then we’ll go to the strip club.”

The enthusiastic, if slightly ribald banter is stock-in-trade for Johnson, whose irrepressible combination of brawn and big- hearted humour has seen him light up the global box office, attract over 100 million followers on Instagram and even led to calls for him to run for president. You think he’d stand a chance? Right now, Johnson may be the most popular man alive. Not bad for a discarded gridiron player-turned- wrestler, who’s battled through depression, self-doubt and the odd sartorial misfire (we’re still waiting for the second coming of the fanny-pack), to become the man he is today.

As MH discovered, Johnson is not only someone who can inspire you with his strength but one whose willingness to open up about his flaws can cause you to reflect on your own life and the type of man you want to be.

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*swipe left Eagle has landed - 10PM - BEIJING. As always, gotta hit the gym. Helps me set my body clock and balance jet lag. Trained legs/cardio tonight and after 15hrs of flying, this session was a bitch to get thru and kicked my ass. Fun pain. And I have an executive dinner at midnight tonight so thankfully, I'm all hopped up on "jungle juice" to get me thru my late night mtgs. Feeling good and ready to roll. #EagleLanded #BEIJING #SkyscraperGlobalTour #HandlinBusiness #SipTheJungleJuice 🤟🏾 @billsinaz 📸

MH: How do you personally define strength?

The Rock: Well for years I defined it by how strong you are in the weight room and
what you are able to accomplish on a football field. How I define it these days is having the ability and awareness to fail. To get your arse kicked and not be so attached to the failure that it impedes you moving forward the next day. Whether you’re in high school, college or your 20s, 30s or 40s, we’ve always got a lot of people who depend on us, who are pulling us in different directions. So for me it’s being okay with the failure, learning from it and doing my best to apply what I learned the next day. To me, that is the definition of strength.

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*swipe left / TEAM SKYSCRAPER at UNIVERSAL. Impressive marketing, advertising & publicity presentation. There are some very brilliant, enthusiastic & HUNGRY people in this room. For a dude like me, who never wants to just play in the game, but rather change the way the game is played, meetings like this speak to a much larger conversation. Which is there's no success - big or small - that ever happens alone. It ALWAYS comes down to teamwork and giving your team as much opportunity to win as you can. Great campaign lined up. Great team ready to execute. Great movie made for the world. #Teamwork #Universal @sevenbucksprod #SKYSCRAPER JULY 13

MH: Social media gave your career a shot in the arm. What do you think it is about you and what you share that resonates so strongly with so many people?

The Rock: I think it’s just me being real and open. I have no reservations about sharing things in the past that I fucked up at or if I made a very poor decision, and I made a lot of them.

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Skin to skin. Our mana. Blessed and proud to bring another strong girl into this world. Tiana Gia Johnson came into this world like a force of nature and Mama @laurenhashianofficial labored and delivered like a true rockstar. I was raised and surrounded by strong, loving women all my life, but after participating in baby Tia's delivery, it's hard to express the new level of love, respect and admiration I have for @laurenhashianofficial and all mamas and women out there. Word to the wise gentlemen, it's critical to be by your lady's head when she's delivering, being as supportive as you can.. holding hands, holding legs, whatever you can do. But, if you really want to understand the single most powerful and primal moment life will ever offer - watch your child being born. Its a life changer and the respect and admiration you have for a woman, will forever be boundless. And to my third and youngest daughter, Tiana Gia - like I did when your two older sisters Simone Alexandra and Jasmine Lia were born, you have my word, I'll love, protect, guide and make ya laugh for the rest of my life. Your crazy dad has many responsibilities and wears many hats in this big ol' world, but being your dad will always be the one I'm most proud to wear. Oh and one more thing.. you're gonna love rollin' in daddy's pick up truck. #TianaGiaJohnson🌺 #3rdDaughter #BlessesAndGratefulMan #ImInTROUBLE

MH: Like the fanny pack?

The Rock: Like the fanny pack (laughs). But I think it’s just being as open as I can with people. Also, I recognise that with social media, unlike any other platform, there is nothing more valuable and more important than the relationship I have with people. Nothing. I treat social media as an important relationship in my life that I have to cultivate. Sometimes if I say something and it’s funny or I fuck up, I get called out on it, or I’ll call myself on it and we’ll have a good laugh about it.

MH: What were the biggest challenges you faced in shooting your new film Skyscraper?

The Rock: I’d never played a character before where right from the get-go I’m put in a vulnerable position. Often times in movies like this there’s a big action set-piece that opens the movie, the hero does very well, which sets the tone for the movie. In this case it does not go that way for me and that’s when I lose my leg and the tone is set. The personal challenge was how I would be able to pull off playing an amputee respectfully and with reverence. My main resource was this guy by the name of Jeff Glasbrenner. He was the first amputee to climb Everest, a multiple ironman, multiple medals. He just exemplifies someone who refuses to be held down by their disability.

For the full story, pick up a copy of the August issue of Men's Health, in-store Monday 9th July.

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Ben Jhoty

Ben Jhoty, Men’s Health’s Deputy Editor, attempts to honour the brand’s health-conscious, aspirational ethos on weekdays while living marginally larger on weekends. A new father, when he’s not rocking an infant to sleep, he tries to get to the gym, shoot hoops and binge on streaming shows.

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