Phil Weidner
“I was honoured, truly honoured to play this role”, Dwayne Johnson says of bringing to life gallant search-and-rescue helicopter pilot Ray in the new blockbuster “San Andreas”. “In people’s worst times – their most tragic times – these people shine.”
Director Brad Peyton’s ‘disaster’ epic pits the colossal-sized actor (The 6’5 actor is every bit as big in real life as he appears on those photo shopped posters they hang about in the multiplex foyer) against something even bigger than himself – Mother Nature. When the San Andreas fault collapses, a major Earthquake takes apart most of California, leaving many – including Ray‘s ex-wife and daughter – stranded, desperate, and suffering the horrors of the nightmarish destruction around them.
Johnson says his take on the profession isn’t at all exaggerated – these guys complete these daring, selfish feats day in-day out.
“And so there’s also a sense of responsibility to make sure our stories are plausible – we had to research and study as much as we can”, the actor says. “It’s also important to make sure there’s a unique heart to the story that pierces through the destruction because, despite being their jobs, these guys are heart – it’s in their DNA to have faith.”
Johnson, who has a strong relationship with his own child, says he didn’t have to pretend to care about the well-being of his onscreen daughter in the film.
“I understand that bond”, the father of 12-year-old Simone says. “This man will do anything he can possibly can to save his daughter – as we all would.
“One of the reasons I wanted to do this film is because of the relationship between him and his daughter; I was reading the script in Budapest, where I was working on Hercules, and usually reading scripts puts me to sleep but not this one – and it was because of the relationships in the movie. The father-daughter scenario in it wasn’t a funky relationship…it plays real. Just like my character in the film, I’m divorced – and yes, that can be challenging, especially in terms of children, but I’m happy with where my relationship is with my daughter… it’s got stronger post-divorce.. as has theirs in the movie. The exact same thing in my life was mirrored in the script.”
Johnson, who made his mark as a wrestler before successfully trying on the ‘movie star’ moniker, assumes Ray made an extra effort to keep that connection vibrant and strong with his on-screen daughter. He bases that assumption on personal experience.
“I think my relationship (with Simone) is stronger because of the work I put into it. Nobody signs up for divorce, but you make the best of it. We decided that it wasn’t right to stay together just for our daughter – I’m not saying there’s a right way or a wrong way, but that was the right way for us. If we were going to go through the big trauma and sludge of divorce then we were determined to see something better come out of it by the end. And I think the relationship with my daughter strengthened because we put the work in – I wanted her to feel my presence, I was always going to be there for her, and we weren’t going to be living in different cities. We just really made an effort. I was lucky, I get along great with my ex-wife….she actually just got remarried, we were all at the wedding; now though, that’s just put more pressure on me because my girlfriend of seven years is giving me the “I think it’s time!” message. Haha.”
Based on what we were able to see on set this given day – the huge tsunami scene that results in a gigantic wave peeing down upon Johnson and Carla Gugino’s characters – “San Andreas” would seem to be crafted from the same cloth the classic Irwin Allen movies of the ‘70s were.
“Yes”, admits Johnson, “and what I liked about those films – like The Towering Inferno – was that it was this villain, this bad guy, that they were up against….but it wasn’t a person, it was Mother Nature. And they had to survive that, some way. And the idea of that was intriguing to me.”
Having battled monsters and fantastical creatures in other films, the “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and “Hercules” star was glad to be in a film where the threat was more grounded and “tangible”.
“I’ve lived in Florida since I was about 18-years-old, and we’ve encountered some truly horrible hurricanes. They have been devastating, absolutely devastating – when a category 5 hits… well, it’s just a monster. And then there’s the earthquakes we’ve been through out on the West Coast. So having experienced events like this, it made the script even more interesting. To be able to draw from personal experiences, it makes it all the more meaningful in terms of your performance and the character. And then there’s the fact that, having played characters over the years that galvanize some people and then fight triumphantly through whatever the issue is, there’s no win in this one. There’s just surviving it.”
For moments in the movie that Johnson hadn’t personally experienced or couldn’t relate to, the actor relied on the stories of the real rescue pilots to drive his performance.
“Their stories are just harrowing, they’re intense, and they’re inspiring.”
“San Andreas” is in cinemas this week
