By Christina Radish
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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at the premiere of The Game Plan held at El Capitan in Hollywood, Calif. on September 23, 2007. |
Quarterback Joe Kingman (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) is known as one of the toughest players to ever take the field. Blessed with amazing strength and agility, he’s famed for being able to handle any hit, no matter how ferocious. Even though Kingman’s Boston-based pro football team, The Rebels, is chasing their long-awaited championship, Joe’s ultimate bachelor lifestyle suddenly changes when he discovers Peyton (Madison Pettis), the 8-year-old daughter he never knew existed, on his doorstep.
Now, just as his career is soaring, Joe must learn to juggle the parties, practices and dates with supermodels that he’s become accustomed to, with the new challenges of ballet, bedtime stories and baby dolls. As the championship grows nearer, Joe is about to realize that the game that truly matters has nothing to do with money, endorsements or even touchdowns, but rather is all about the really tough stuff -- patience, teamwork, selflessness and winning the heart of the one little fan who turns out to count the most.
Charismatic and charming leading man, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine, along with the film’s director Andy Fickman (She’s the Man), about their new Disney film The Game plan, and how his own 6-year-old daughter has impacted his life.
MediaBlvd Magazine> What was the general appeal of this character?
Dwayne Johnson> From the get go, I thought, “Wow, what a great character to play.” It’s great when you can create a character like this, from scratch, and be collaborative with the director and everybody on board. And, personally, I love self-deprecating comedy. Physical comedy is great, dark comedy is great, but self-deprecating comedy, for me, always takes the cake. It’s great, when you just have the ability to laugh at yourself. I think we all should. That appealed to me. And, selfishly, being 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, broad family comedy, but this gave me the opportunity to take her to go see a Disney movie that I’m in, playing a character like this. There were a lot of elements that fell in place that made it very comfortable for me to do.
MediaBlvd> Did you shoot your appearances on all of those shows for the Disney Channel, like Cory in the House, after The Game Plan?
Dwayne> 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 on the Disney Channel. It was a very big collaborative effort, which was great. That’s the way Disney is. Therein lies the power of that brand.
Andy Fickman> And, Madison got cast in Cory in the House after we cast her in The Game Plan. When we found her, she had just done some commercials and a couple episodes of Barney. Then, Cory in the House was happening and the movie was coming out at the same time, so it really was great. A lot of times, bigger stars don’t necessarily want to get involved with cross-promotion, but from the very beginning, Dwayne was very excited about the notion of that. It was a big deal for Disney.
MediaBlvd> Can you talk about your, and your character’s, Elvis obsession?
Dwayne> I love Elvis. The moment I sat down with Andy, I said, “Do you love Elvis?,” and he said, “Absolutely!,” so we went for it. It was another fun way of adding a layer to the character that might be interesting. I love the fact that this character was singing to 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 him. For an actor to sing in a movie, and play the guitar, it’s not really funny. The audience thinks, “Oh, he can sing and play guitar.” But, the joke makes it funny, when it falls back on him.
MediaBlvd> 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, but there’s this one where he laughs, and he can’t stop laughing. It’s great.
MediaBlvd> Are you really that bad of a singer?
Dwayne> I am. I can’t hold a tune. It was movie magic.
Andy> A lot of times, you have an actor who wants to pre-record their song. With pre-recording, you can go in and fix everything. That’s Dwayne playing the guitar and singing, and he was spot on. We didn’t go in and do any mixing. Everyone with Elvis’ estate and Graceland has seen this performance, and they are just so happy. It blew everybody away.
MediaBlvd> What did you take from your experiences with your own daughter that you brought to this?
Dwayne> I’m very lucky to understand the blessing of being a parent. There’s a very unique bond between a daddy and his little girl, and I recognize that now. Every day, I live it and embrace it. That bonding process, and understanding that, made it very easy for me. I could take scenes from the movie and translate them right into my own real life, and vice versa. It’s because of those experiences that I’d had that allowed me to easily bond with Madison, and easily appreciate her silliness, and appreciate her crankiness when she gets tired, and everything like that. 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 it, and I think it would have been just as funny, but I don’t think that the emotion would have been there. To play 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, emotionally.
MediaBlvd> Your character’s apartment is so clean, and then this kid comes in and messes everything up.
Dwayne> That’s exactly the way life is. 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.
MediaBlvd> How patient are you?
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. When I see her actually strategize, and see it happening in her mind, I turn to mush.
MediaBlvd> Did you have any input with the football scenes?
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Director Andy Fickman at the premiere of The Game Plan held at El Capitan in Hollywood, Calif. on September 23, 2007. |
Dwayne> Sure. I was very lucky that I had a chance to play 10 years of football with some great players. And, we had a great football coordinator to help 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. More importantly than that, he wanted to make sure that he showed ballet a tremendous amount of respect, too, and to make sure that you saw the parallels of the difficulty of both sports, and how both of them are equally difficult.
MediaBlvd> How challenging was it to learn ballet?
Dwayne> It was very challenging. I, like a lot of my guy friends, kind of dismissed ballet, for years. We were there with the Boston Ballet for the film, and I was blown away by the incredible amount of discipline that those little girls and boys had, along with the hard work and dedication. We would rehearse every day for two weeks. We essentially had a ballet boot camp, for a couple of hours a day . And, at the end, there was this respectful silence that would permeate the air. Then, they would all come up 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.
Andy> It’s pretty awe-inspiring.
Dwayne> It was unbelievable.
MediaBlvd> Do you draw on your physicality as a football player and 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 just never knew. 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. Some of the greatest football players in the world, in skilled positions -- wide receivers and running backs -- have ballet as part of their training regimen.
MediaBlvd> Did you have to fix anything with the green leotard in the film, or did it fit right away?
Andy> There were a lot of visual effects involved. You can do a lot with CGI now.
Dwayne> What’s funny is that I put that outfit on about two hours before shooting, and I was like, “Wow, it’s really tight.” It was made for me, but it was the first time I had tried it on, and it was very thin and very tight. I was like, “Well, this is a Disney movie.” I went to see Andy and said, “Can you come and look at this really quickly?,” because we were about ready to shoot, and he said, “Okay, let me see.” When I showed him, he said, “Can we start to cover this up?” So, we started to add layers where we had to.
Andy> We actually went smaller. The first version we had wasn’t small enough, so we went a size smaller. And, that was also the very first day of filming, so that’s a great way to ingratiate yourself with your cast and crew. The very first day, he was walking around in his ballet outfit.
MediaBlvd> What sort of fitness regimen do you have now?
Dwayne> I train every day. I have to. I do a variety of training, depending on 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. It’s like a little sanctuary for me. Specifically, I do plyometric work, which is some box jumps and sprints, and quickness and agility drills, and things like that. From there, I do cardio and weight work. With women, it’s more a lifestyle and a mental change. Specifically with women -- and I’m surrounded by women, from my mom to just everybody -- they 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.” Women have to change their mind-set and think, “I’ve got to do this first.” Make it fun, get a trainer, get a partner, get an iPod, and do fun things. That’s my suggestion.
MediaBlvd> Have you seen the final cut of Southland Tales that’s coming out in November?
Dwayne> Yes, I’ve seen it. It’s fantastic.
MediaBlvd> Is it anything like you imagined when you made it?
Dwayne> Nothing like I imagined, and much better than the cut we showed at the Cannes Film Festival.
MediaBlvd> Now that you guys are doing a second film together, what is it that you like so much about working with each other?
Andy> A director’s dream is to get onto a set and have a collaborator. You can yell action all you want, but at the end of the day, you need somebody who is going to be there to work. Dwayne Johnson is an amazing actor because what he gives you is the comedy, the heart and the willingness to do anything. That’s not just something where a director can say, “Hey, do you mind going and doing this?” If it’s not coming from that actor, I’ve got nothing to play with. And so, when you think, “What’s the next movie I want to jump into?,” it’s a rarity when you can think, “You know what? I just spent a year of my life working with this one actor and I had a great time. I want to do it again.” For us, it was the opportunity to work with Disney, who has been a huge partner for us, and to tackle a favorite of ours, growing up -- a re-imagination of Escape to Witch Mountain -- where we’re going to be able to have a lot of fun with the action and the comedy. I think people that enjoyed The Game Plan are going to get an awful lot out of it. Honestly, as a director, you don’t work with an actor again, unless you find that working with him is inspiring. For me, walking onto the set every day, I learned stuff from him that I’ll now be able to use on the next movie to teach him how to be good.
