Actor “The Rock” used to steal to make money to help his family, and was arrested about eight times at the age of 17, before becoming an A-list star.

On Instagram on September 24, The Rock said he values ​​his reputation because of his poor past: “I’m lucky to be known to the public and realize that fame brings many positive things. There were times when I couldn’t pay the rent.” , struggled to assert himself, went bankrupt to the point where he was only one day away from being evicted.”

Before becoming one of the world’s most profitable artists, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson experienced many ups and downs.

The 51-year-old actor comes from a family that used to live on $120 per week. His father – Rocky Johnson – is an African-Canadian wrestler. His mother comes from a family of Samoan origin. When he was young, he had little opportunity to be close to his parents because they were often away from home to make a living. Difficult economic conditions often cause couples to have emotional problems. Johnson once witnessed his mother attempt suicide after an argument with his father.

When Johnson was 14 years old, his family was deported from Hawaii. His mother cried and broke down, not knowing where they would live or what they would do. The actor told The Hollywood Reporter that this was one of the darkest times of his life.

Difficult circumstances pushed him into crime. Weeks before his deportation, he engaged in dangerous street fights, stealing to help his mother pay the bills after her car was confiscated. In an interview with Muscle and Fitness , the actor said he was arrested about eight times at the age of 17 and was once a member of a group of robbers in Hawaii that specialized in targeting tourists.

The Rock during his student days. Photo: Instagram The Rock

During this time, Johnson discovered a love for exercise. “When I was 14 years old, I started training, which was also the time I started getting arrested for fighting and stealing. Every afternoon, I would go to the club to box and exercise,” the actor said on Muscle. & Fitness .

After that, his family had to constantly move from New Zealand to America. In the 1980s, the actor lived for a few months in 13 US states. In 1991, when he went to college, he played for the rugby team. After several years, Johnson suffered many injuries that hindered his sports career. He joined the Calgary Stampeders but was quickly dropped from the official roster and barely made enough money to eat, reaching a peak of only seven dollars. When leaving Stampeders, the actor lived with his parents in Florida and suffered from depression.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson during his professional wrestling days in 2000.
After nearly two months at home, Johnson’s father trained his son to become a wrestler. At the beginning of his career, he only received $40 per match, selling cars at flea markets and parking lots. His life turned a new page when he was noticed by wrestler Pat Patterson at the age of 24. Pat was impressed with Johnson’s abilities so he introduced him to WWE (formerly WWF) executives.

In 1996, Johnson debuted as Rocky Maivia – a combination of the wrestling names of his father and grandfather, known to WWE as Blue Chipper. Even though he won a series in his first year, fans expressed disgust.

In 1997, Johnson dropped his old name and adopted the new nickname The Rock. Since then, he has been named The People’s Champion. At that time, the WWE tournament was in the “Attitude Era” – when the audience loved humiliation between fighters. On the ring, Johnson often scolds the audience and reporters to show his aggression and stubbornness. During his career, he won eight WWE championship belts, stopping professional competition in 2004.

Since starting acting, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has continuously achieved much success. He entered the cinema with The Mummy Returns (2001), transforming into the Scorpion King – the warrior king of ancient Egypt. Even though his appearance time was not much, the actor still created a buzz and received 5.5 million USD for his debut role, and was invited to star in his own film about the character next year.

Throughout his career , Johnson has associated with muscular roles and courageous spirit in action films with more than 40 works, appearing in many famous brands such as Fast & Furious , Jumanji . The role of Hobbs in the Fast & Furious series brought him about 35 million USD. Besides beautiful fighting scenes, the actor also made his mark with the comedy genre in Tooth Fairy (2010), Central Intelligence (2016) , and Baywatch (2017).

According to Forbes , for many years Johnson has always been among the top earning artists in the world, topping the list of highest-paid actors in 2019 and 2020. Currently, the actor has 270 million USD, making money from many sources. sources such as acting in movies, writing books, selling clothes, signing contracts with Ford and Apple, WWE.