Dwayne Johnson with his mother Ata Johnson.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for NetflixDwayne Johnson thanks his mother for helping him turn his life around since he was a troubled teenager who was constantly getting arrested.
Johnson, 51, is one of the most successful actors of all time and is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers. But as a teenager attending Freedom High School in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, his future seemed bleak. He was arrested several times for theft and check fraud and was suspended for two weeks for fighting.
The Quick five The actor says the key to his transformation was his mother’s love. Ata Johnson.
“My mom was always there, always my biggest fan,” Dwayne said People in an interview published on Wednesday, April 10. “Even when I was a punk kid in high school, getting in trouble and getting arrested, she said, ‘I have a feeling the world is going to hear about you one day.’ She’s just picking me up from the police station! The love was limitless. The support was endless.”
Dwayne also reflected on the advice he would have given himself during his turbulent youth.
“I would tell the kid from years ago, ‘Listen, you steal Snickers in front of the gym every day.’ One day you won’t be an asshole anymore. “Go back to the 7-Eleven in Hawaii and buy all the Snickers, pay for them and leave them there for other people,” he said with a laugh.
In addition to his mother’s guidance, the Jumanji The star relied on sport to leave his life as a petty criminal behind him. He was a member of the Freedom High School football, track and wrestling teams.
Dwayne Johnson with his mother Ata Johnson.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty ImagesDwayne pursued a professional football career in Canada, but after being cut by the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, he turned to wrestling.
He said People He knew he was on the right track when he first competed in New York City in 1996.
“When I wrestled, I didn’t start out in the big lights of WWE,” he remembers. “I fought in Tennessee, with a company called USWA. I made my bones down there fighting for $40 a match, in barns, flea markets, etc.”
From macho wrestler to loving girl father! After welcoming their two daughters, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his wife Lauren Hashian have shared several precious family moments over the years, including family snuggles, singing Moana songs, and more. Johnson first met his bride while filming “The Game Plan” in Boston in 2006. The couple began […]
“I got my big call-up and my first match as a WWE Superstar was at Madison Square Garden. I was a newbie,” the action star continued. “They pulled me aside about an hour before I went out and said, ‘Hey kid, you’re going to win tonight.’ Sink or swim, it’s the Garden, it’s New York, and if you could do that, we feel like you have a chance, and we have a chance.” So I went out that night and at the end of the At the same time, 22,000 people sang my name. All I knew was that my parents, watching at home in Tampa, were crying. It was just a very special moment.”
Another special moment for Dwayne was celebrating his mother’s 75th birthday in October 2023. He posted an Instagram video of his mother playing a ukulele while they performed a special birthday song together.
“Happy birthday mom!!!,” he captioned his post. “75 years of experience, wisdom, hard times, good times, laughter, mana and yet through it all – you TRULY have the kindest HEART I have ever known ❤️💫 I feel like the luckiest son in the world.”