Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson, born May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, known as Dwayne Johnson and by his wrestling ring name The Rock, is one of the highest-grossing actors in Hollywood history and a former professional wrestling champion whose combination of physical charisma, genuine comedic timing, and relentless work ethic has made him arguably the most bankable film star of the past two decades. The son of Canadian-American professional wrestler Rocky Johnson and Samoan-American Ata Maivia, the daughter of famous Samoan wrestling patriarch High Chief Peter Maivia, Johnson grew up in a nomadic professional wrestling family. He earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of Miami, where he played defensive tackle alongside future NFL stars, but a knee injury led him to professional wrestling. Signing with the World Wrestling Federation in 1996, under the character of The Rock he became the most electrifying and popular performer in professional wrestling history — a trash-talking, catchphrase-generating champion who sold out arenas worldwide. He transitioned to acting with The Mummy Returns (2001) and quickly built an enormous career through The Scorpion King (2002), Walking Tall (2004), the Fast and Furious franchise from Fast Five onward, GI Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), San Andreas (2015), Central Intelligence (2016), Moana (2016), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and its sequel, Rampage (2018), Hobbs and Shaw (2019), Jungle Cruise (2021), Black Adam (2022), and Red One (2024). He is consistently among the most followed people in the world on social media and has become a global brand empire encompassing films, television, tequila, apparel, and fitness.