We got it from “The Rock’s” mouth. In his new fantasy film Tooth Fairy, the max-buff actor ends up briefly in a pink tou tou due to a magical wardrobe malfunction! Even cultural icon Julie Andrews, who co-stars with him says he’s “pretty in pink”!
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We’re with Dwayne in Bev Hills to get the scoop on the film, the tou tou incident and when he’ll start doing some fun, popcorn action films again.
Dwayne Johnson as Derek in “Tooth Fairy”
20th Century Fox
We also learned some really inspiring stuff like was there anyone to set him on the success track when he was a teen and what does he wish parents would do to support their teens’ dreams?
Thanks for the interview Dwayne. Tooth Fairy is hilarious but it’s really about believing in your dreams no matter what.
Did you have anyone to encourage you to follow your dreams when you were a teen?
Dwayne: I was really fortunate in my life to have a couple of people when I was younger. I was a bit challenged when I was younger to stay on the right path. I was fortunate to have a wonderful mom and a couple of adult father figures who saw potential in me even when I didn’t and who always embedded the thought of trying to get better and becoming a better person, becoming a better man and what that really meant and trying to find integrity along the way. So, I was really fortunate to have that.
When the script for Tooth Fairy came around and I read it, it really resonated with me and the thought of the impossible becoming the possible, that resonated with me because I’m an example of that so, for me, it was very, very special.
Did you have a tough time on skates playing hockey in the movie?
Dwayne: Speaking of the impossible! Me on ice, yes I did! [he laughs. I had a wonderful time with it. I had a couple of weeks to learn to ice skate. The majority of the movie I had wonderful stunt doubles who were skating for me. A couple of years ago, I ruptured my Achilles (tendon) and had to get it reattached so my mobility in my ankle has been pretty step-by-step along the way so we can safely say that my ice skating is certainly not Olympic standards by any means but I did have a blast.
Lots of teens just get their dreams laughed at by friends and even their parents. What do you think is the best thing a parent can do to encourage their kids' dreams?
Dwayne: I think there are a number of things parents could do to encourage their kids' dreams but I do believe, speaking from experience, in having a lot of help along the way. We've all stumbled and certainly deserve to get up and walk again.
Now, being a proud parent, [Dwayne has a young daughter] I would probably say to just understand the power of potential, the power of belief. Tell kids to believe in yourself and be comfortable with who you are and how important that is.
Every day, you’re going to see challenges, you’re going to see failures. We should certainly learn from the failures, and be gracious with our successes as well. I think the most important thing our little girl’s mom and myself have passed on to her is to believe in yourself and be comfortable with yourself.
Was it hard for you to play someone who has lost his belief in the possibility of dreams?
Dwayne: It wasn’t necessarily hard for me to play that because I knew where we were going at the end of the story and I knew we were going to tell a nice story and, by the end, my character would have changed through the events so it wasn’t difficult.
You can be really funny. Who were your comedy inspirations?
Dwayne: Billy Crystal, I had grown up admiring Billy. He’s such an iconic comedic actor, such an iconic actor. That’s why it was such a pleasure to work with both he and Julie [on this film]. So, Billy Crystal, Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams were all guys who I really admired growing up. So, to be in a scene with Billy was fantastic.
Nobody but anyone who is strong in their masculinity could be wearing what you wear in the film for a while. How comfortable are you in tutu?
Dwayne: That’s right. I met Julie Andrews while wearing a tutu. ‘Hi, Julie!’ [we laugh]. I felt fine. Any time you set out to make a comedy, I don’t think you should set parameters on it. If you are going to make a comedy and your sole interest is to make people laugh and feel good and entertain them, then you check your ego at the door. So, for me, it was pretty easy.
Do you watch your own movies?
Dwayne: I do, sure and I enjoy them. For me, it’s a way to learn. I always want to get better so it goes back to the environment I was raised in in terms of athletics and always film going back again and watching your performances to see how you could get better so I can improve.
Dwayne, you’ve been making family films but you did The Other Guys and are getting ready to do an R-rated action film. Are you going back to making action films for a while?
Dwayne: We had some really wonderful success in the family genre and it’s a genre that I wanted to get in and hopefully make some good movies and find some success along the way but it’s just a matter of material and the timing of material that came in.
If Faster, which I’m doing next with George Tillman (Jr., director) and Billy Bob Thornton, had come in two years ago, I probably would have done that before Tooth Fairy.
This will be my 10th year in acting and the goal was always to work in as many different genres as I possibly could and have a nice wide foundation of work. Now, going back to action is great. I love making people laugh and entertain them. That’s wonderful but there’s nothing like kickin’ butt too!
Will you ever think of doing a sequel to The Rundown?
Dwayne: Sure. I think there are storylines within The Rundown that I like and we could take that and make a different movie out of it but I had a great time working with Peter Berg and the other actors in it.
Any time you can find an action movie that’s not driven by its action only and you get great characters that people are invested in and you get a chance to kick some butt along the way and every once in a while, wink at the audience and have fun, that’s great! That was a great movie and if we could do a Part 2, sure.
Source: teenhollywood.com
