Caffeinated Clint
Despite his massive physique and famous take-no-prisoners eyebrow slant, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has become somewhat of a go-to guy for family movies. Yep, seems he’s warmer and fluffier than a Duck-feathered doona. Having put their squat cheeks on seats with “The Game Plan” and “Get Smart”, the former Wrestler is back entertaining the little ones in “Race to Witch Mountain”. In the pic, a Las Vegas cabbie (Johnson) enlists the help of a UFO expert to protect two siblings with paranormal powers from the clutches of an organization that wants to use the kids for their nefarious plans. Moviehole caught up with the big guy to talk about the movie.
Q: We spoke at Comic Con, how you doing?
A: I am doing good.
Q: As always you are looking great.
A: Thank you.
Q: I can’t say that I’ve seen the movie, but from what I have seen, I am pretty excited. Andy’s a big UFO buff, Roswell and all that crazy stuff…
A: Yeah, he was probed.
Q: He was probed, yes he mentioned that.
A: [laughing]I’m excited for you to see the movie, I saw it last night and you know what, the movie plays great, and we accomplished exactly what we set out to accomplish which I was happy about. Especially in that genre, the action adventure. And expecially the special effects there are so many big effects in the movies it’s hard to compete with so it was good.
Q: I’ve followed your career pretty closely, after the wrestling I remember going out to Santa Monica for a book signing once and I’ve been a fan of yours, my wife has been a fan of yours, and now my kids have become a fan of yours but for totally different reasons. They see you as they guy from The Game Plan, which is great. This is also a progression for you in the sense that making product that your kids can watch.
A: Which I am excited about, and for me it was just a matter of growth and trying to find and create opportunities where I can grow and where I can entertain audiences too and continue to build my audience but wrestling served me a great deal. It gave me a great platform and just really great opportunities that I didn’t understand then, to be honest with you, back then I was flying by the seat of my pants and every week, there are no seasons, 52 weeks a year you are doing television shows so I was having a great time and we had a lot of fun creating that character. But now looking back at it, it served me a great deal. It served me wonderfully well to be in that environment, that style of shooting, gorilla style, regardless of what we throw at you we go live at 9, you are going to get new pages at 8:55 and you got two hours live. And you’ve got 20 minutes, here’s your monologue, whatever it is and so that every week served me in a great way now and helped me because that was my training ground.
Q: Something I was saddened to hear was that you are no longer involved in Bubba Nosferatu.
[laughing]
Q: You’re an Elvis fan, come on!
A: I am a big Elvis fan, you know.
Q: Paul [Giamatti] wants you.
A: Did he talk to you about that? Did he tell you?
Q: Talk to Don about it, maybe we can convince you for a cameo?
A: Maybe a cameo, that script is really cool, it is, as you know, and I talked to Paul while I was in Vancouver and you know I just wasn’t feeling it. It’s just one of those things. I was feeling it a couple of years ago and then Bruce Campbell had some issues and didn’t know if he wanted to do it or not.
Q: Yeah, as of right now they’ve got [Ron] Perlman.
A: Right, that’s right, but yeah, I just wasn’t feeling it. I hate that cause I love movies and I love Paul and talking to him and he was so excited like, “Hey I am so excited about this, you are still in right?!” And just, I’m not feeling it.
Q: Cameo, cameo…
A: Maybe a cameo, that would be fun.
Q: I told Andy, through the Warner Bros. halls I keep on hearing his name and your name for the Adventures of Jonny Quest.
A: You are in man!
Q: You’d be a pretty badass Race Bannon.
A: I love the script, I love working with Andy…
Q: One of the top scripts of 2008 Blacklist that Jonny Quest script.
A: Really?
Q: Yeah, everybody is talking about it.
A: Wow, I don’t know if you’ve read the latest one but it’s awesome and it’s badass and I haven’t read, this is what I told everyone over at Warner Bros., and I love the studio too by the way, you know, I had my experience with them with Get Smart and they were great, I hadn’t read an action script like that in a LONG time. And that action was unbelievable. That will happen.
Q: You think you’ll be Race Bannon?
A: There’s no one else who can be Race Bannon than me. There’s no one else. But right now, there are just a couple of tweaks and changes that…
Q: There are certain things we won’t talk about so we don’t upset certain Jonny Quest fans about the age.
A: Right, which is the argument.
Q: And I can see the argument from both sides.
A: Both sides, right. Cause you want to be true to it and you want to honor that and I loved Jonny Quest when I was a kid. If you go a little older, it gives you more, it allows you to be…it just gives you a bit more, you know. But then you want to honor it too, so…
Q: It’s tough, you are in a pickle, especially after Speed Racer.
A: What do you think?
Q: He has to be 12 years old. I hear the name they are throwing around for the older one.
A: How do you feel about that?
Q: I can see it, I can see that too but a part of me is like I don’t know, maybe for the second or the third movie he could be the older kid.
A: But right out of the blocks he has to be what he is right?
Q: He has to be a kid who needs to be taken care of, and if he’s 17, 18 years old who’s taking care of him? He’s a dude.
A: [laughing] Right, right, a dude taking care of another dude. Then it becomes creepy.
Q: Two dudes flying a plane with a pug.
A: [laughing]I know! I don’t know if you, I wish Andy was here cause we could get him going on a rant.
Q: Oh, I did, I got him on a rant earlier, which is good. Now, we are all disappointed to hear that Captain Marvel things isn’t happening on one end, what’s going on?
A: I don’t know, I don’t know what happened with that. I am still excited about that.
Q: Do you still think you will be involved?
A: I would love to be involved, I would love to be involved, me and Pete Segal and I love Pete.
Q: But they are saying John August isn’t involved anymore or that the studio is thinking about something, John August posted something on his blog about how right now WB doesn’t know what they are doing on that front.
A: I don’t know, again Black Atom, there is no one better for Black Atom than me. But I haven’t heard that, you have your finger on the pulse much better than me, I haven’t heard that.
Q: This is the first of a franchise and I am hearing there is already talk of a sequel for this thing.
A: Well, as you know it all depends, with success that brings a lot of things and with failure that idea would go right out that window.
Q: Andy says that within the next two to three weeks, that he should know what he’s directing next. Something tells me that you guys are collaborating again on his next feature.
A: Sure, you bet.
Q: Would you like it to be Jonny Quest?
A: I would like it to be Jonny Quest but we have some other things in development too so I think, and as he said it’s all gonna unfold. What did he say, two to three? I’d give it four to five. I give him between four and six weeks and it’s all gonna unfold. But, yeah, things we are developing with Disney and…did you read Quest? Did you get a chance to read it?
Q: Race Bannon is a badass.
A: He’s badass, he’s great!
Q: Dwayne, thanks man, congratulations on your career, really appreciate it.
A: Thanks man, enjoyed talking to you.
– ROBERT SANCHEZ
