top of page
gerard van weyenbergh

Dwayne Johnson, major figure of pop culture made in the USA

Updated: Dec 28, 2022

Dwayne Johnson in the role of Black Adam for the eponymous film. ©Warner Bros.

Dwayne Johnson alone embodies the American success story. From wrestling rings to movie sets, the man who was once nicknamed The Rock has established himself as an entertainment icon and an important figure in pop culture. Portrait.

Dwayne Johnson will soon star in Black Adam. Aries project that he has carried for several years as an actor and producer alongside Warner Bros., the new DC superhero film is expected on October 19, 2022 in dark rooms. The opportunity for Dwayne Johnson to put on the emblematic black and gold bodysuit of this antihero , but above all to embody a new facet of American entertainment.

For several years, Dwayne-mania has invaded the screens. A real blockbuster machine, Dwayne Johnson is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, with a juicy fee of 87.5 million dollars collected in 2020 according to Forbes magazine. The actor is bankable, it is undeniable, and the studios see him as a guarantee of success.

A figure from the action blockbusters

Although the blockbusters he's featured in are often seen as crass, crass, testosterone-boosted action boobs, the audience is always there. The Jumanji saga (2017-2019), modernized under his wing, gave birth to two blockbusters, while Red Notice on Netflix was one of the platform's biggest hits in 2021. We should also mention its entry into Fast & Furious 5 (2011): his introduction to the franchise earned him his own spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw , in 2019, with the actor stealing the show from the unmissable Vin Diesel.

art expert
Fast & Furious © Universal Pictures

The attraction of the public and the cinema for the star can be explained in various ways. To begin with, Dwayne Johnson appears as one of the heirs to the great era of action heroes. Before him, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger paved the way with muscles, sweat and kitsch replicas. A triptych that accompanies the cinema of Dwayne Johnson today and that he proudly assumes.

Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in Jumanji: Next Level . ©Sony Pictures Entertainment Deutschland GmbH

The California-born actor is also a continuation of the American dream and relies on the idea of ​​the self-made man , two concepts that have always appealed to the United States. Dwayne Johnson embodies them through a flourishing career, passed from wrestling rings to film sets, but also by his body itself. Indeed, impossible to dissociate the actor from his mountain of muscles. Dwayne Johnson is a physical, a breadwinner who allowed him to access success.

Before Dwayne Johnson, there was The Rock

Dwayne Johnson has had many lives. If today we know him for his Hollywood career, he once distinguished himself as a professional wrestler. A passion that comes to him from his family: as a child, he was surrounded by fighters and fighters, before launching himself into a professional career for the WWE and the WWF, under the pseudonym of Rocky Maivia. He will later take on that of The Rock, a stage name that has stuck with him ever since.

Between 1996 and 2004, he won numerous titles, including ten times that of World Heavyweight Champion. Thanks to his talent, he became one of the most popular wrestlers in the history of the company. He also stands out as one of the greatest showmen in the history of wrestling, and ignites the crowds with his many punchlines, as well as his duet alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Mr Entertainment

Dwayne Johnson has entertainment in his blood. If cinema and wrestling represent two fundamental universes of entertainment, the star has pushed the limits by making his own life an object of American entertainment. First by publishing his autobiography entitled The Rock Says (2000), which was placed at the top of the New York Times Best Seller List for several weeks. More recently, Dwayne Johnson produced the series Young Rock (2021), based on his childhood and adolescence.

art expert
Jumanji © Sony Pictures

The star also does not hesitate to publish his life on social networks. From his intensive indoor training to the dantesque gifts made to his loved ones, through his messages of hope and love, Dwayne Johnson also appears to be a true influencer of happiness. He does not forget the authenticity of his heritage – in California as well as in New Zealand – and the importance of his family, notions once again very dear to American patriotism.

This helps create the Dwayne Johnson “brand”. A label (and a production house) to which the projects centered on his career serve as a showcase. However, The Rock cultivates a certain bonhomie. He does not take himself seriously, either as an action movie hero or when he appears in a comic register, especially alongside his sidekick Kevin Hart. This double facet, between encouraged superficiality and simplicity of the man, favors the attraction of the public.

Dwayne Johnson fully assumes this duality and does not hesitate to cultivate it on either side of the big screen. Latest project: Black Adam . After having devoted himself to the big show, the actor is now venturing into the field of superheroes, there also a field of American feeling and patriotism which drive his career.

His place in entertainment history over the past two decades makes him a major figure in pop culture and an unseen icon of the 21st century. Everything he touches turns into dollars and no area seems to escape him. Perhaps that's why he even considered a career in politics. After all, from wrestler and actor to President, there is only one step in the United States.


l'Eclaireur Fnac by Lisa Muratore



Comentarios

Obtuvo 0 de 5 estrellas.
Aún no hay calificaciones

Agrega una calificación
bottom of page