The Rock's New "Game Plan"

We first were introduced to him as a very hot wrestler. We always smelled what the Rock was cookin'! Then he appeared as a sexy Scorpion King. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has proven he is more than just a pretty set of pecs. In addition to his work in actioners like The Rundown, Walking Tall, Doom and The Gridiron Gang, the tall, dark and friendly actor has taken on comedy; first on TV on "Saturday Night Live" then in the film Be Cool where he was hilarious as a gay bodyguard who wanted to be a country-western star.

Now you can catch the hunky actor as a cocky football superstar who discovers he's the dad of an 8-year-old girl [played by "Cory in the House's" Madison Pettis] in the funny, warm, family comedy The Game Plan. The actor has his own 6-year-old daughter and let us know that he loves the role of dad both in real and reel life. Looking as buff as ever, the actor joined us at the beach in Santa Monica to chat about The Game Plan and his upcoming project Southland Tales in which he plays a futureworld movie star, and we learned there will be more Rock-packed family faire in a re-make of Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain. Picture "The Dwayne" wearing flattering dark brown sweater, jeans and blinging with a diamond bezel wristwatch.

TeenHollywood: We saw you on The Disney Channel. Did you shoot all of those shows after this project? Are they all related?

Dwayne: Yes, we shot all of that about a month or so after we wrapped The Game Plan. It was an attempt to synergize the movie with those shows and with the Disney Channel. It was a very big collaborative effort, which was great. Therein lies the power of that brand, and Disney.

TeenHollywood: Can you talk about the general appeal of this character for you?

Dwayne: From the get go, I thought, 'Wow, what a great character to play, and from scratch.' [The role was created for Dwayne]. It's great when you can create a character like this, from scratch, and be collaborative with the director and everybody on board. I love comedy. Physical comedy is great, dark comedy is great, but self-deprecating comedy, for me, always takes the cake, so to speak. It's great, when you just have the ability to laugh at yourself. I think we all should.

TeenHollywood: What moments in the film struck your funnybone?

Dwayne: There are different moments. For me, putting on the ballet outfit to the bubble bath, and you name it, is funny. That appealed to me. [I'm] a proud daddy. I've got a little 6-year-old girl at home who challenges me every day, just like Madison challenged me in the movie. I wanted to make a movie that she could come and see. Of course, the goal is to make a big family comedy, a big broad comedy, but for me, personally, selfishly, I had the opportunity to take her to go see a Disney movie [I'm in], and play a character like this. There were a lot of elements that fell in place that made it very, very comfortable for me to make that.

TeenHollywood: Wrestlers are always bragging on themselves. Did you take anything from your wrestling experience for this?

Dwayne: I'm just naturally like that. I'm just very naturally arrogant, basically. [Laughs] All the photos in the movie are from my house. As a matter of fact, I have them all up on my ceiling. When I wake up, I like to look at myself [we think he's kidding].

TeenHollywood: Your character "The King" has a huge, wall-size photo of himself. How was it to look at that every day?

Dwayne: That was great. Let me tell you something, that's wonderful for the ego. Every day, to come to the set and see a huge picture of yourself that covers the entire wall, it's absurd, but you've got to love it.

TeenHollywood: Both your character and you personally have Elvis obsessions. Can you talk about that?

Dwayne: I love Elvis. The moment I sat down with Andy [Fickman, the film's director] I said, 'Andy, do you love Elvis?' He said, 'Absolutely!' And, we went for it. It was another fun way of adding a layer to the character that might be interesting. Again, self-deprecating comedy is great. I love the fact that he was singing to her [his daughter], in a very sweet and tender moment, and she says, 'I think you sound like a wounded moose.' I love that type of comedy, and how the joke falls back on me. For an actor to sing in a movie, and play the guitar, it's really not funny. You're like, 'Oh, he can sing and play guitar.' But, the joke makes it funny, when it falls back on him.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a favorite Elvis song?

Dwayne: "Are You Lonesome Tonight" is my favorite. I love the live version. There's many live versions. There's this one where he laughs, and he can't stop laughing. It's great. I can't hold a tune. It was movie magic, in the studio. [We disagree. We thought he sounded pretty darn good].

TeenHollywood: For a ballet scene in this movie you are wearing a green leotard and are dressed like a tree. How did you react to wearing that outfit?

Dwayne: What's funny is that I put that outfit on and the moment I put it on, we were about two hours away from shooting, and I was like, 'Wow, it's really tight.' It was made for me, but it was the first time I tried it on. It was very thin and very tight. I was like, 'Well, this is a Disney movie.' I went to see Andy and I said, 'Andy, can you come and look at this really quickly?' He said, 'Okay, let me see. Uh, can we start to cover this up?' So, we started to add layers where we had to.

TeenHollywood: What did you take from your experiences with your own daughter that you brought to this? Any moments?

Dwayne: Sure. You bet. I'm very, very lucky to understand what that blessing is, to be a parent. There's a very, very unique bond between a daddy and his little girl, and I recognize that now. Every day, I recognize it and live it and embrace it. That bonding process and understanding that made it very easy for me. I could easily take scenes from that movie and translate them right into my own real life, and from life into the movie as well. It's because of those experiences that I'd had that allowed me to easily bond with Madison and easily appreciate Madison; her silliness, appreciate her crankiness when she gets tired, everything like that.

TeenHollywood: And, before you had your daughter, it would have been harder to create that bond on camera?

Dwayne: Six years ago, before my little girl was born, if Andy had approached me about doing the movie, I still would have loved to have done the movie, and I think it would have been just as funny, but I don't think that the emotion would have been there. I think that for that type of emotion, especially when it comes to kids, you have to have a kid, if you're going to act it that well.

TeenHollywood: Your character's apartment is so clean, and then this kid comes in and messes everything up.

Dwayne: [laughs] That's the way life is. It's the exact same way. I could clean my place and have it completely clean and spot free, and then, as soon as the little girl comes around, that's it. There's toys everywhere and everything is left open. That's what happens.

TeenHollywood: So, are you patient with that?

Dwayne: I'm pretty patient. You have to be. The thing that I love struggling with is the fact that it's a dictatorship in my house, and there's no democracy. As adults, we can control a lot of things. But, with little kids, democracy is out the window. That's the way it is. To see her actually strategize, and I see it happening in her mind, I turn to mush.

TeenHollywood: Did you have any input into the football scenes?

Dwayne: Sure. I was very lucky. I had a chance to play 10 years of football with some great players. And, we had a great football coordinator to help and to make sure that the football was very real, and looked very real. Also, to Andy's credit, because he comes from the world of theater, he wanted to show football a tremendous amount of respect. He wanted to make sure that he showed ballet a tremendous amount of respect too, and to make sure that you saw the equal parallels of the difficulty of both sports.

TeenHollywood: That's right. You are dancin' too. How challenging was it to learn ballet?

Dwayne: It was very, very challenging. I, like a lot of my guy friends, kind of dismissed ballet, for years. We were there with the Boston Ballet, and I was blown away by the incredible amount of discipline that those little girls, and little boys, had, [along with] the hard work and dedication. There was this amazing respectful silence when we were done. We essentially had a ballet boot camp for a couple of hours a day for two weeks and, at the end, six or seven o'clock, they had already gone through school, and then they stayed with me and Madison the whole time. There was this respectful silence that would permeate the air, and then, they would all come and individually thank us for our time. I love seeing that in our children today. I love seeing that type of discipline, honor and respect.

TeenHollywood: Do you draw on your physicality as a football player and a wrestler when you're doing ballet?

Dwayne: I learned to, absolutely. The incredible amount of body control that it takes to be a ballet dancer was mind-boggling to me. I never knew. I just didn't know. So, I was very happy that I was exposed to that. And, it also reminded me how, for some of the greatest athletes in the world, ballet is part of their training regimen. For some of the greatest football players in the world, in skilled positions, wide receivers and running backs, ballet is part of their training regimen.

TeenHollywood: I'll bet a lot of people don't know that. Can you talk about your fitness regime now?

Dwayne: I train every day. I have to. I do a different variety of training, whether it's outside or inside. I have to get away and, for me, that hour and a half is a way to get away, and it's like a little sanctuary for me, too. Specifically, I do plyometric work, which is some box jumps and sprints and quickness and agility drills, things like that. From that, I do cardio and weight work. With women, it's more a lifestyle and a mental change.

TeenHollywood: Well, that's true. Tell us more.

Dwayne: Specifically with women, and I'm surrounded by women, from my mom to just everybody, women have that great tendency to put themselves last, and to put working out last. They'll say, 'I've got so many other things to do.' It's so true. You've got to change your mind-set and think, 'I've got to do this first.' Make it fun, get a trainer, get a partner, get an iPod, do fun things. That's my suggestion. I suggested the same thing to Andy, too.

TeenHollywood: Have you seen the final cut of Southland Tales that's coming out?

Dwayne: I've seen it. It's fantastic. And, they're showing it, as we speak, right now, to press in Texas. It's nothing like I imagined, and much better than the cut we showed at the Cannes Film Festival.

TeenHollywood: On a political note, what do you think of Barak Obama possibly becoming the first ever African American President?

Dwayne: I think that would be tremendous. I had the opportunity to speak with Barak, and I think he's great. I'm very proud of him and all his success. If it does happen, I think it's wonderful.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.