Multi-ethnic wrestler turned movie star proud of heritage
• The Rock's upcoming projects
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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| Former Honolulu resident Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, is in town to make an action flick temporarily titled "Helldorado," in which he stars.
Gregory Yamamoto The Honolulu Advertiser |
Vin Diesel parlayed a co-star's role in 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" into a headlining gig in July's extreme-sports-meets-secret-agent cocktail "XXX." Raking in $140 million (so far), "XXX" is now Columbia Pictures' big hope for a studio franchise á la James Bond.
Meanwhile, The Rock — a World Wrestling Entertainment superstar aka former Honolulu resident Dwayne Johnson — turned a heavily-hyped cameo in 2001's "The Mummy Returns" into a lead role in April's $90 million-grossing "The Scorpion King."
The Rock is in Hawai'i to make another action flick for Universal Pictures (temporarily titled "Helldorado"). And he has signed on — amid some controversy — for the lead role in a planned biopic, "King Kamehameha," for Columbia Pictures, set to start production here next year.
Both Diesel and The Rock are earmarked to make from $15 million to $20 million each for sequels to their summer 2002 blockbusters.
Days before the start of filming for "Helldorado," Universal Studios Home Video hosted a Honolulu press junket to drum up press for the "Scorpion King" DVD release today.
We talked to The Rock, using our brief time to ask him about the DVD, movies, and a bit more.
The Rock has spoken proudly and often of his Samoan/African American background, while Diesel has chosen in interviews to stay mum about his ethnicity (it's widely reported as Italian and African American). The Rock has also credited his childhood in Hawai'i's multi-ethnic cultural stew for having a significant influence on his adult values.
Even with a semi-towering 6-foot, 4-inch, wickedly muscular frame, in person, The Rock looks like any buff local guy who spends his pau hana hours working out at the gym, say, seven days a week. Comfortably dressed in faded blue jeans and a cotton T-shirt that was fighting a losing battle against the will of his arm and chest muscles to break free, The Rock's demeanor throughout the interview was relaxed and friendly.
Here's the talk:
Q. I've heard you have quite a DVD collection.
I'm a big DVD fan. (Rolls eyes a bit and smiles.)
Q. Uh-huh ... so you must have really wanted to do an audio commentary.
A. I did. That's my favorite part. The live commentary is my favorite part of all the DVDs. The live commentary and the outtakes. So it was important for me to do that for the fans. And originally, I had agreed to only do about five of my favorite scenes.
So what happens, you know, is you get in the sound room and you're watching it and then I was just like, "You know what? I'm talking over the whole thing." Because in every scene there was something special that happened either that day or off camera. And there's certain little tidbits and information about the scene that people don't necessarily get. And I thought that it was pretty cool information to give the fans.
Q. Your approach to the whole commentary, I thought, was very stream of consciousness. Very funny. You see something happen ... you say something about it, or crack a joke. Is that how you approached doing it?
A. Well ... I just wanted to make sure that when the fans heard me, that they were getting me. A lot of times when I listen to the DVD commentaries I hear the director and the other actors talk about ... what the motivation of the scene was and what they were thinking in terms of emotional recalling and, you know, little things that actors do and say. A lot of times, it just gets to the point where you're hearing, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah." And so, I wanted to have fun with it, and I did. (Laughs.)
Q.You must have. I mean, you have a lot of favorite scenes. I think I lost count at 14.
A. (Laughs hard.) Yeah! There were a lot of 'em. There were a lot of 'em. And it's funny, too. It's like, "Oh ... this is one of my favorite scenes!" and "Oh ... this is one of my favorite scenes, too!" But again, I just wanted to have fun that day.
Q.Watching the commentary ... it's pretty clear that you're proud of the film.
A. Well, I mean ... yeah, absolutely. Everybody put their heart and soul into this movie. And, you know, I just wanted to make a movie that was fun and entertaining and didn't take itself too serious. And it wasn't a heavy movie. It wasn't "In The Bedroom" or "Gosford Park," by any means. And I wanted to make a movie that when the audience walked out they would feel happy and that they were entertained.
Q. And there's plenty of time for doing a "Gosford Park" or an "In The Bedroom" in the future.
A. Right. Plenty of time for Shakespeare. (Laughs.)
Q. Just curious. How large is your DVD collection?
A. Hundreds. Easy. I don't have anything to gauge it by, so I don't know. To me, that's a lot of DVDs. And by the way, it was great (being in the film), because I got an early copy of it so I was able to put it in my DVD collection. So I was, like, "All right, where am I gonna put this? It's my first DVD." I put it right there next to "The Godfather." (Laughs.) The Rock and Brando.
Q. So what's on the top shelf?
A. Oh, um, let me see, uh ... "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Godfather" ... and "The Scorpion King." (Laughs.)
Q. So now you're in Hawai'i for your second lead role. The movie WAS called "Helldorado" ...
A. It's still titled "Helldorado," but the name is going to change.
Q. Has the media gotten the basics right as far as plot?
A. The fundamentals of the movie are still there. I am ... an expert at retrieval. A bounty hunter. (Laughs.) And I'm ready to get out of the business. I play a very dark character ... a very complicated character ... ready to get out of the business, sent down to South America to capture Seann William Scott — of course, it's Stifler from "American Pie." (He catches me stifling a laugh, and smiles.) See, that's funny. See, I say that and immediately everybody is, like, "Oh, this is gonna be great!"
So we go down there, only to find out that Christopher Walken has basically enslaved thousands and thousands of South Americans to help him to dig for gold. And between myself, Seann William Scott and Rosario Dawson ... we wind up fighting together against Christopher Walken.
But the great thing isn't necessarily the good-versus-evil concept, which, obviously, is a concept that goes back to the beginning of time. The great thing is the juxtaposition between the two characters. My thought process is I'm getting out of this business because I know eventually I'm going to wind up dead, and ... I will not leave South America without getting Seann. And (Seann's) thought process is, "There is no way I'm ever going back to America ... because I'm going to wind up dead." Every scene has that constant friction. And then, eventually we become friends.
Q. How long are you going to be here for production?
A. About a month and a half. We're going to film for about a month and a half. And all of the scenes will simulate the Amazon jungle and the Amazon River. The back story is that, originally, the studio wanted to keep the authenticity of the movie and go down to South America into Brazil.
I don't know if you know this, but I was telling the studio executives, I said, "Listen, we should just go down to Hawai'i." The cast and crew and everybody was in L.A. so let's just go to Hawai'i. (The executives said) "No, no, no, let's go to South America." And so they all went down to South America — the executives, the director (Peter Berg), the producers — and they were robbed at gunpoint by guerrillas. By all means, those guys should be dead. And so they called me (afterward) and I said, "OK, so now are we going to Hawai'i?" And they were, like, (in a whimpering voice) "Yeah, we're going to Hawai'i!" (Laughs.)
Q. So it's not by happy coincidence that this film is shooting in Hawai'i?
A. Well, it is for me. (Smiles broadly.) And I'm sure it is for everybody else. Absolutely.
Q. You spent part of your childhood here.
A. I was 7, 8 and 9 (years old) and 13, 14, 15. The bad years.
Q.You lived near Daiei on Kaheka Street.
A. Absolutely. I lived there. I lived on Kapi'olani (Boulevard) as well.
Q. What do you remember most about small-kid time at Washington Elementary & Intermediate and McKinley High School?
A. The Washington years were, you know, just hanging out with my friends and not having much money. You know, always trying to get on the bus with the fake bus pass, and showing it to (the driver) real quick. The driver was, like, "Hey, what are you doin'?" And I was, "Oh, I'm sorry! It's a week old. I didn't know." I was always getting into trouble.
Q. You've never quite gotten this place out of your system, have you?
A. No, no, never. And I never will. Being half-Samoan and raised in this culture ... and even when we left, still being raised having that spirit ... that's something that if you have it, then you'll never lose it.
Q. You've also, no doubt, heard about the controversy, locally, that has surrounded your casting in a planned King Kamehameha biopic.
A. (A look of concern.) Yeah ... yeah.
Q. Did the reaction — coming as it did, from Native Hawaiians — take you by surprise?
A. No, not at all. I completely understand some of the concerns. But the reaction, on a whole, has been tremendously supportive. ... There have been a few people who have raised concerns, and I understand those concerns. And about those concerns, I say this: I couldn't be more excited about a role to play. Because, I think, finally the story can be told about Kamehameha, a story that's never been told ... in an epic of this nature.
His story deserves to be told, and deserves to be told the right way. Authenticity is key. And it's gonna happen. Greg Poirier has done a fantastic job. The script has already come in. They're making revisions on it now. He's visited with people over on the Big Island. When we're finished with production over here, I'm going to go over there as well. ... Here's the thing: Kamehameha ruled a couple of hundred years ago, so there's not a lot of latitude and leeway that you can take creatively with the story. The people at Columbia ... the executives at Columbia and Sony want to make this the absolute best movie, make sure that (Kamehameha's) story is told in the correct way with all its authenticity. Those concerns I understand. The concern that I'm Samoan and not Hawaiian ... I really don't understand that concern because, you know ... were the people of Scotland mad when Mel Gibson played William Wallace, when he wasn't Scottish? The only thing I can do is play King Kamehameha to the best of my ability ...
Q. As the star of the film, do you have any control over the project as far as trying to keep it real ... and allaying the worst fears of people who have criticized your casting? If while you're filming, something is going on that you don't like, could you ...
A. Well, sure. I'll voice the concern and it will get dealt with in the proper way. But I don't foresee a lot of problems with this. If anything, there's nothing but good that will come out of this project ... that will come out of this movie. To see the beauty of Hawai'i in a movie of this magnitude is going to be terrific. I mean, you're looking at ... the studio is putting a hundred million dollars into this movie. And the story is going to be told, again, in an authentic way with the respect that King Kamehameha and Hawai'i deserves.
(The Rock's publicist and unofficial timekeeper announces time for one last question.)
Q. You're multi-ethnic, Rock. And proudly so.
A. (Nodding in agreement.) Yes.
Q. Because of that, you're seen as something of a role model or standard bearer by others who are multi-ethnic as well. And you know we're a growing club.
A. (Smiles.) Yeah.
Q. How serious do you take being both?
A. I take it very serious. There's a sense of responsibility that not only I have as an actor, but we all have as human beings and especially, being "ethnic." So yeah, I take it very serious. It's very important to me. I'm very proud of what I am. That'll never change. We can change a lot of things. I cannot change. I can't change the color of my skin, and neither can you.
Q. Do you wanna move back here someday?
A. I am!
Q. Permanently?
A. Definitely!
• • •
"Helldorado" (to be renamed)
- What: See The Rock's description in his interview above.
- Cast: The Rock (Beck), Seann William Scott (Travis), Christopher Walken (Bloomocks), Rosario Dawson (Carmen), Ewen Bremner
- Director: Peter Berg ("Very Bad Things")
- Status: Filming began on O'ahu Sept. 23 and is to continue through the end of October, then moving to Los Angeles.
- Studio: Universal Pictures
- Budget: Unknown
- Locations: Nu'uanu Valley and Kualoa Ranch, O'ahu; Hansen Dam, Los Angeles.
- Release date: 2003
Untitled King Kamehameha project
- What: One of two competing big-budget biopics on Kamehameha I.
- Cast: The Rock — who has the lead role — is the only actor cast so far.
- Director: Rob Cohen ("The Fast and the Furious," "XXX"), pending script approval
- Status: In development. Script by Hawai'i-born writer Greg Poirier completed, now in rewrites. Start-up in 2003.
- Studio: Columbia Pictures
- Budget: $100 million-plus
- Locations: Big Island, O'ahu, so far
- Release date: 2004
