Dwayne Johnson is a prominent name in the acting industry. The Rock has come a long way from being a football player to a WWE wrestler to a known actor. The actor enjoys a massive fan following, who are not only fans of his tough muscular build but also admire his versatile acting talent. His journey from being a wrestler to a highly in-demand actor has been nothing less than a roller coaster ride. The Black Adam actor has numerous blockbusters in his name and is regarded among the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.
Dwayne Johnson in Fast & Furious
The actor has been the lead in more than one box-office franchise which made him a superstar. However, he was once surprised when he lost a role to Tom Cruise.
Dwayne Johnson reveals being shocked on losing a role to Tom Cruise
Dwayne Johnson is one of the most loved and admired actors in Hollywood who has a long list of movies in his name. The actor became a hotshot with the movie Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, released in 2019. However, some years before this movie came along, he auditioned for the lead in Jack Reacher.
Johnson is a massive guy, and there aren’t many men like him in the industry, hence roles are made for him, unlike other characters. He applied for the role as people told him he would be a great fit. But the role finally went to Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise
In a Facebook live Q&A, Johnson said,
“I got the call saying ‘Hey, you didn’t get the role’ Look, I didn’t even know if I had a shot for it, but the people around me at that time made me think that I did. I felt like I did, I felt like ‘Why not me?’ Tom was the biggest movie star in the world, and I was not.”
Jack Reacher was a big-screen adaptation of the book under the same name, written by Lee Child. As per the book, Reacher was a tall and bulky guy with a muscular look. Hence, Dwayne Johnson had high hopes for the movie. Tom Cruise‘s film was a commercial success with a $218 million worldwide box-office collection.
Dwayne Johnson’s role in Fast & Furious was initially written for another actor
During a live Facebook Q&A session, Vin Diesel revealed that the role of Hobbs was originally written for Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones. Before the production of the film, a woman named Jan Kelly suggested the idea of Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson working together in a movie. The role of Hobbs was then tweaked a little and given to The Rock. The character later became one of the leads in the series. Diesel shared,
“The reason we brought Dwayne Johnson into Fast 5 was because of you! There was a girl named Jan Kelly who said, ‘I would love to see you work together on screen.’ So the role that was originally written for Tommy Lee Jones, we gave it to Dwayne and he shined in it.”
Vin Diesel v Dwayne Johnson
Thinking back, it was a great thing that Johnson was rejected for Jack Reacher. If Johnson had starred in the movie, he wouldn’t have been available to shoot Fast 5. As per the numbers, the box office difference between the two movies is enormous. Fast 5 made a gross profit that was three times that of Jack Reacher at the box office. Hence Johnson not starring in this movie, gave him a chance to work on a highly profitable project that completely transformed his image.
