Undoubtedly, one of the biggest names in show business today is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but he admitted in an interview that becoming a a major movie star was never his goal.
Joining The Pivot Podcast for an interview released this afternoon, The Rock told Ryan Clark about what actually motivated his eventual fame.
In case Ryan Clark’s name doesn’t sound familiar, well, he was an outstanding NFL player and Super Bowl champion who, when he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, earned a reputation for being such a hard-hitting safety that, between him and Dwayne Johnson, it’s Clark that should really be the one nicknamed “The Rock.”
Clark and two other former fellow NFL stars, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor, along with executive producer Alicia Zubikowski, now run The Pivot Podcast, which is rapidly becoming one of the most popular podcasts available, usually having sports-related guests for open-yet-respectful discussions about a variety of topics.
Clark fielded a surprising answer after asking The Rock, “Could you ever have imagined being where you are today?”
“No, never. My goal wasn’t to be here in Hollywood making movies,” The Rock answered. “My goal was just to not be broke.”
To further emphasize that this was his main motivation, Johnson reiterated more intensely, “I used to tell myself specifically, ‘I cannot be fu**ing broke!””
Johnson went on to explain how when his dad, the famous wrestler Rocky Johnson, fell on hard times, they had to scrap just to get by. Rock even notes that his parents began cleaning houses for money just to make ends meet.
“I don’t want that for them, and I don’t want that for my family,” The Rock mentioned in regards to watching his parents go through such financial difficulty.
He also adds that a part of his motivation was not being drafted by any NFL team after he concluded his collegiate days playing for the Miami Hurricanes.
When he switched gears and went into the wrestling entertainment business of the WWE — where both his father and grandfather made their living at one time — he became more successful than both of them, then began making blockbuster films a decade into his wrestling career. The transition obviously proved fruitful for him and his family.
The Rock concluded that he never had the goal to make millions, but rather he just wanted to make “more than seven bucks.”