Dwayne Johnson Says Hollywood Told Him He Was 'Too Big'

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has opened up about how he resisted the urges of Hollywood executives who told him he was “too big” to be a leading man in movies.

"As I was pushing my career forward—doing my best to push my career forward—there were moments of doubt," the Hobbs & Shaw star told Entertainment Weekly. He recalled an oft-repeated piece of “advice” he would receive from industry executives: "If you wanna be a leading man, you're too big; you can't go to the gym, you have to lose weight, you gotta go on a diet."

Johnson admitted that he “started to question” himself after hearing that. “If you don't know any better, then you buy into it," he said. The actor believes that uncertainty can be seen in his work from that period. “Some of those films at the time I was making, I think, reflect that,” he noted.

But then he had the epiphany that would go on to change the course of his career.

“And then a moment came where I said, excuse my language, but, ‘F--k that, I'm not doing this anymore, I'm gonna do myself. And if I fail, then I can fail being me,'" Johnson explained.

"A funny thing happened when I said, 'Ah, f--k all this': career went like this," he continued, gesturing upwards. "I became acutely aware of the power of being authentic and being real."

Johnson has remained one of the biggest worldwide box office draws, with roles in ensemble blockbusters like the Fast and Furious series in addition to leading roles in his own franchises such as Jungle Cruise and Black Adam.

Next, he'll appear in the Christmas action-adventure comedy Red One, also starring Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, and J. K. Simmons; hitting theaters on Nov. 15, 2024.