Dwayne Johnson on G.I. Joe: Retaliation

How much do you train every day?

Probably about an hour and a half, probably about an hour and forty five minutes, early in the morning is when I prefer to train, I’m preparing for a role, I am preparing for Hercules, so it’s a fourteen week diet and conditioning and prep.

Are you still watching what you eat?

It’s a very detailed diet of eating six times a day and everything is very measured out, and training twice, but I was preparing also too when were shooting GI Joe, I was preparing, not only for Joe, but then I was going right into Fast and Furious at that time, so there’s always something to prepare for. And always something that directors have to deal with too by the way, because we can start our day, and it’s like okay, everyone on set at like say eight o’clock and I would remind him earlier on, which, just one time by the way and he totally got it, I said, okay, so if we are on set at hair and makeup at eight, back up four hours and then that’s when I get up. He’s like, ah, okay, now I understand.

It seems these days, whenever a franchise needs improvement, they come to you for the second or third part and what’s the magic trick that you do?

The trick, it’s magic, it’s smoke and mirrors. I think the idea, I’ve been very fortunate to have some pretty cool roles come my way, this one in particular. I’ve been part of some franchises which we talked about, Fast and Furious or even Journey to Mysterious Island franchise and Joe, and the goal with getting involved in a franchise, but especially this one, and not this one because it’s what we are here talking about today, but this one in particular because it is such a beloved brand and franchise and mythology and over the decades that have transcended over the decades and it means a lot to a lot of people around the world, so when you have something like this, you pay real close attention to it and take special care in it and the idea for getting involved into this or any other franchise by the way, is how can I come in and help elevate the franchise? Can I? And if I can, if I think I can come in and help elevate it, have fun in the process doing it and create a character that I think people would like, then I do it.

Do you like the title of king of action movies and do you see the coincidence that all these kind of movies are coming out at the same time, Pain and Gain, Snitch, this one and Fast and Furious?

Well the King of Action, that sounds pretty cool. (laughter) If you are going to be king of something, that’s pretty cool. (laughter) I mean that’s cool and as far as for the movies that are coming out, is it coincidental? Yeah, it’s more indicative I think of how my past 24 months have been and the work, the consistent work in the consistent movies, but this is a very fun time right now I think getting ready to happen, and it’s happening right now and between Snitch and GI Joe, Pain and Gain, Fast and Furious, the smaller movie, Empire State, which will come out in the summer, I think that the plan was, if I was going to present the world, with what we could call “the Rock buffet of movies,” (laughter) over the next six months, where whatever your taste is in movies, I think I might have something for you. The goal is to make it somewhat diverse and interesting, so Snitch is much different from GI Joe, certainly much different than Pain and Gain, which you guys will see very shortly, which I am very excited for you guys to see and then certainly different from Fast and Furious.

Which one would you choose to watch first and in what order would you choose them to watch?

Well, what is coincidental, is how they have been laid out now and studios release movies for all different reasons and what they have on slate and what makes sense for them throughout the year, but in this case, I would have laid it out in presenting it to the world all these projects, I would have laid them out exactly actually how they are laid out now, smaller movie, with a little bit more dramatic flair to it, with Snitch, a true story, followed it up with a commercial, big fun global movie like this, GI Joe, then follow it up with something I’ll bet you have never seen before with Pain and Gain. (laughter) Then follow it up with something else. (laughter) With a bunch of cars, fast cars and having fun around the world.

Have you ever wanted to play completely against type? Cause even when you play comedies, it plays off your physicality as well, so any burning desires to do Shakespeare or something really dramatic?

Sure, I would love to and I think the opportunity for that first came with Pain and Gain, and I think when you see it, you will see an understanding that we were playing bodybuilders, there’s some really tonally dark and interesting places that we go. But completely against type, I would love to, it depended on the material too, but also I think with actors, and you guys know this, cause you spend so much time with actors and movie stars and I think that everybody’s art and filmography just reflects them and who they are on the inside, so I think when you look at my filmography, you will see everything from whether it’s action, or an action comedy or family or a little bit of drama mixed in, and there’s still, it’s still reflective I think of just who I am and my wiring and my makeup. So Shakespeare, sure, I’ll give it a crack. I’m just not the first one that studios think of, (laughter) a Shakespeare type.

How was it working with John?

This exuberance and passion that you see out of John was what we were able to enjoy every day and when I sat with John and when it was first told to me from Lorenzo, we have our first choices right now, John Chu, who just directed the Bieber movie, I thought, oh, well that’s interesting, okay, (laughter) but then you sit with him, but it is this passion and this exuberance and this enthusiasm that he has, and this love for GI Joe that really was a deal sealer. And this type of passion, I just want to point it out that what we were able to experience every day on set which, you certainly see that in the movie.

You said at the beginning that you were attracted to GI Joe because of this mythology, how respectful are you for these characters and this mythology of Hercules?

Deeply. Hercules has been in my, it’s been my wiring for since I was a kid. And the idea and the notion of Hercules and always admiring Hercules and different versions of Hercules over the years, whether it’s been the cartoon or whether for example, Steve Reeves playing Hercules, many different versions, so it’s a deep rooted connection and I am happy. You know, when I first got into Hollywood about twelve, thirteen years ago, Hercules was one of the projects that I had actively looked at and looked for, cause when you think about, gosh what would I love to do? I would love to be Hercules, but at that time, I didn’t have quite the ability to say, I would like to do that, and we get it done, so I am happy how it comes full circle. So yes, deeply rooted number one, and deeply involved. And our version of Hercules, we want to make the definitive version of Hercules, it was a very exciting time for us, because it’s an awesome challenge to deliver the definitive version of Hercules, and in this definitive version of Hercules, and respecting the mythology, you find yourself working creatively off a really incredible graphic novel, tonally a bit darker, and also too, we remember with just Hercules, he didn’t accept his fate, or faith until the end, and when he does, that can be a very powerful time for people, so I am excited about it.

I was watching you yesterday with Jay Leno, and you were talking about the way you used to practice all those Rocky monologues and the crush that you had on Clint Eastwood too, the way that you used to get the GI Joe’s yourself.

Yes, when I was young, when I was eight, nine, ten years old, I was an only child, and to entertain me and keep me entertained, my mom would just set up the video camera, one of those big old video cameras and then she would let it run for hours and hours and that’s where I would practice all my favorite monologues from my favorite movies and at that time, was Rocky II, Rocky III, Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark and some Richard Pryor too which was very inappropriate at that time. (laughter) So I would do that, and you brought up Clint Eastwood, so yes, Clint Eastwood for me, has always been an inspiration as an actor, and one of the reasons, when I was a kid, I admired Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone at that time and they were just men’s men to me and so he had always inspired me. Like a deep inspiration and I have always admired his career, so long story short, I was on a plane, I was on a private jet, a plane flying and this was about two, three months ago, and I asked the flight attendant who she was flying next, and she said, Clint Eastwood. I said wow, you are flying Clint! She goes yeah. I said, can I borrow a piece of paper? And I wanted to just write him. So I wrote him a personal letter that just said, thank you for being an inspiration to me and I want you to know what you have meant to my career and I want to thank you, and that’s it, here’s my number, you can call me, (laughter) maybe we can work together, even though I would love to, but it was just, I just wanted to say thank you for the inspiration, and I asked her to hand deliver it to him and she did. So with GI Joe, what basically happened was, when I was a kid, we couldn’t afford toys, but I had a massive collection of GI Joe’s and Star Wars action figures that we have talked about before. And I used to open the packages and go to the stores and open the packages and then put the action figures in my pocket, so I would walk out of these stores with pockets full of stolen action figures, (laughter) that I eventually got caught, twice, (laughter) so I didn’t learn my lesson the first time, but I did eventually get caught. And thank you for bringing that story up. (laughter)

What’s your reaction when you see your own films?

Awesome man. It’s very great, it’s cool. It’s very cool and it’s also humbling, it’s all those things.

Your training included martial arts training and did you get inspiration from Asian wisdom?

What I bring into the master class is how I walk into a door. (laughter) Better than anybody. (laughter)

Everybody talks about what a great guy you are, what a nice guy you are to work with.

True…

And I just think, do you think it’s because of your upbringing and if you had it a little bit more easier, you wouldn’t be like that and where do you think that comes from and is it something you consciously tried to do or be? What’s your take on that?

I don’t know if I consciously, but I also just feel that it’s important to be nice. There’s a great quote that I heard years ago and it’s nice to be important and it’s more important to be nice and even if you are a celebrity or not, it doesn’t matter, (laughs) I just think it’s important to be nice. So would things be different? Maybe things would be different I was brought up differently, but we all have our struggles and our challenges and in our life and when I was fourteen, something definitive happened where we were evicted out of our apartment, and didn’t have a place to live, so I think that was a defining time and a motivating time for me as a fourteen year old, and I thought gosh, I would never want that to happen again to my parents, so what can I do? What do the men in my mind, who I admire do? These heroes, who I talked about, they build their bodies, okay, great. I am going to the gym, that’s what I can do. So maybe, I think having that happen, added a sense of humility and from that, coming home and seeing a padlock on your door with an eviction notice to sitting here with you guys, a cool thing.

Having your own action figure now as well.

Right! That’s cool.

John was talking about before about consulting his ten year old and your ten year old self must be marveling at the fact.

Well yeah, I was stealing the GI Joe’s, (laughter) so yes, it’s humbling.