Fast Five, for example, his first entry into the Fast & Furious series in 2011, made $626 million worldwide—double what the movie before it accumulated. During his prep for the 2013 film Pain & Gain, he was accepted with open arms by the bodybuilding community for packing an impressive amount of muscle onto an already very muscular frame.
He also signed a huge deal with Under Armour, launching his own Project Rock collection with the billion-dollar brand. And in 2016, Johnson was animated into an island demigod Maui in the Disney hit Moana. In the film, he sang his heart out in one of the movie’s hit songs, proving that the Alpha male of Alpha males is as popular with 8-year old girls as he is with 30-year old men. That’s a line only The Rock can walk.
Now, with a new NBC sitcom, Young Rock, coming to TV next season, you can add ‘comedian’ to The Rock’s ever-growing list of professional personas.
According to an article by USA Today, Young Rock will be an autobiographical show about Johnson’s formative years.
Even if you’re just a casual Johnson fan, you’ve most likely heard some version of his life story—he grew up poor, was evicted from his home at 14, and then won a national football championship at the University of Miami in 1991. Despite being the descendant of two wrestling legends—his father, Rocky Johnson, and maternal grandfather, the “High Chief” Peter Maivia—he struggled to break into the WWE and was even loudly booed at several events. At 23, he had nothing but a dream and $7 in his pocket.
Back then, very few would’ve thought the man who strutted to the ring in tassels would become The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment and one of the most successful men in Hollywood.
Often, Johnson will tear up when he recounts his hardships growing up. Those stories will be the basis of the NBC sitcom series, which Johnson said will mirror the coming-of-age classic Forrest Gump. The autobiographical series, produced by his studios Seven Bucks Productions, was officially announced on The Rock’s Instagram January 13.
In the post, The Rock detailed some of the highs and lows of his childhood and young adult life. “Our new @NBC sitcom has been all my life in the making,” he wrote. “Literally.”
From having seven bucks in his pocket to being worth more than $300 million, according to the latest Forbes estimates (www.forbes.com/), The Rock’s story is certainly an inspirational one, and one we’re sure will make for great TV.
