Message-ID: 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/movies/sfl-lirock31mar31,0,7998086.story?coll=sfla-entertainment-e1

‘The Rock' is Walking Tall, hoping to wrestle meatier acting roles out
of Hollywood

By Alex Marvez 
Staff Writer 

Posted March 31 2004 

No matter how his latest movie fares at the box office or among
critics, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will still be walking tall.

Johnson's transformation from one form of acting (professional
wrestling) to another continues Friday with the release of Walking
Tall, which is Johnson's third starring motion-picture role. Johnson's
character was inspired by Buford Pusser, whose crime-fighting exploits
as a Tennessee sheriff already were the subject of four Walking Tall
movies during the 1970s.

Johnson wanted to film this remake so badly that he approached MGM
studios with the idea.

"I was a big fan of the original," Johnson said. "It was important for
me that MGM knew how genuine and passionate I was going to be about
the project. I wasn't just trying to cash in, so to speak, on a great
iconic title. That's why we changed the name of the [Pusser] character
to Chris Vaughn and put it in the Pacific Northwest.

"Plus, it's an inspiring role for me. What actor in Hollywood wouldn't
want to play the role of a guy who stands up? It's a very simple
story. It moved me."

Johnson is moving up the acting ranks thanks to the box-office success
of previous movies The Scorpion King and The Rundown, which recently
sold 1.5 million copies in its first 24 hours of release on DVD.

"I don't think people really regard him as just a wrestler any more,"
said Dave McNary, who writes for Daily Variety magazine. "He's
regarded as very legitimate."

Already wealthy through his in-ring exploits with World Wrestling
Entertainment, Johnson reportedly has earned $33 million from his
acting career. But it was Johnson's modest upbringing as the son of
pro wrestler Rocky Johnson that he used as inspiration to play the
role of Vaughn, a retired soldier who discovers the sleepy logging
town where he was raised is being controlled by a sleazy casino owner.
After a rough homecoming, Vaughn is voted sheriff and begins
administering his own form of justice.

"I could relate to a guy who didn't have that much while he was
growing up," said Johnson, who has admitted he was arrested multiple
times as a teenager before attending the University of Miami in the
early 1990s on a football scholarship. "While my dad was very
successful in certain [wrestling] territories, we still lived in a lot
of apartments. And there were times in my life when I had to stand up
for things."

Before filming began, Johnson sought and received the blessing of
Pusser's daughter Dwana to play the Vaughn role. Johnson would ask
Dwana what she thought her father would do when confronted with the
types of life-threatening situations that the Vaughn character faced
in the movie.

Johnson was recently honored by McNairy County, Tenn., which is where
Pusser was sheriff from 1964 until his death in a 1970 auto accident.
In turn, Johnson made a $5,000 donation to the Buford Pusser
Foundation.

Such a gesture is indicative of how Johnson has managed to stay
grounded while becoming one of Hollywood's top action heroes. During a
recent 30-minute interview at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Miami,
Johnson seemed as interested in discussing pro wrestling and
reminiscing about his playing days at UM as he was the movie success
that began with a bit part in the 2001 smash The Mummy Returns.

"I just never forget where I came from," said Johnson, who still
spends much of his off-time at home with his wife and daughter in
Davie. "I played football in Canada sleeping on piss-stained
mattresses. I'll never forget that. I have a small team of people
around me. I don't roll with a big entourage. I have three or four
people and that's it."

One thing that has changed is Johnson's appearance, thanks to a
massive tattoo that now covers most of his left shoulder and pectoral
area. Johnson had the ornate work done earlier this year to celebrate
his Samoan ancestry, with its public debut March 14 during a now-rare
WWE appearance on the Wrestlemania XX pay-per-view show.

"Visually, it's a powerful tattoo," said Johnson, who says he will not
be adding any new body art. "When I was at Wrestlemania in the back
with the [wrestlers], they were like, 'Wow!' Some people look at it
and are like, 'Oh my God! I think he's going to kill somebody!'"

Johnson will leave such dirty work to his movie characters. Johnson is
set to soon complete a supporting role in the John Travolta/Uma
Thurman vehicle Be Cool, which is a sequel to the 1995 smash Get
Shorty. Johnson will then begin filming the lead role in the action
movie Spy Hunter, which is an adaptation of the classic 1980s arcade
game.

Johnson hopes the strides he has made on-camera in Walking Tall will
lead to even more prominent Hollywood opportunities.

"For me, Walking Tall is me taking a small step in hopefully becoming
a decent actor," said Johnson, 31. "I'm sure Denzel [Washington] would
have taken this to an Oscar win. I just want to do a decent job. But I
do think I've come a long way from The Mummy Returns, where there was
no English dialogue, to Walking Tall."


--- Internet Rex 2.29