9 of ‘The Rock’s’ Greatest Movie Roles and the Unique Body he Brought to Each One

Not Since Arnold Schwarzenegger has an actor owned the action genre or consistently wielded as much muscle from film to film as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Yet, before Johnson possessed the size to play D-1 football at the University of Miami, the strength and stamina to dominate WWE’s squared circle, or the acting chops to carry a feature film, he was a devout bodybuilder who spent his youth loading plates, hoisting iron, and pushing his body past its limits.

With few exceptions, his filmography is absent the dramatic additions of weight or crash diets that some movie stars have undergone, but his lifelong obsession with bodybuilding has provided the 44-year-old with the knowledge and ability to produce exactly the look that each role calls for. Here, M&F takes a look back at some of “The Rock”’s greatest roles and the unique body he brought to each one.

In his first major leading role, Dwayne Johnson rolled straight out of the ring and onto the set boasting the same trademark conditioning that he was known for in WWE: incredibly athletic and filled with purposeful muscle. In an interview with M&F, Johnson admits that his physique lacked the more refined look from more recent films.

“When I made Scorpion King, the body type was different, my conditioning was different, the muscle maturity was different. That was me at 29, compared with today.”

Luckily for Johnson, fans didn’t look as critically at his build as he did. The Scorpion King took in $36 million on opening weekend and grossed $165 million worldwide, signaling the birth of a box office star.

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Fresh off of the success of The Scorpion King, Johnson took on the role of Beck in The Rundown, an action/comedy flick that co-starred Seann William Scott (Stifler from American Pie). Though his wardrobe wasn’t that flattering, it was clear from the film’s first action scene—a nightclub brawl—that Johnson’s physical ability was going to be the true star of the film. He had visibly tightened up and trimmed down from The Scorpion King in order to prepare for the WWE-caliber punishment that the role called for. To do so, Johnson performed four to five 30- to 45-minute workouts each week—all at 5 a.m., revolving around high-rep circuit training, super-sets, and plyometrics. The Rundown featured some of the best fight scenes in Johnson’s body of work, warranting his physical dominance.

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In 2010, Johnson turned in a solid, if underrated, performance as a revenge-seeking ex-con in Faster. Unlike some of his previous roles in family films and comedies around this time, Johnson’s character—known as Driver—is no one that you’d want to bring to Sunday dinner. Johnson’s physique isn’t featured as prominently as in other films, but his sheer size and broad-shouldered barbarism certainly lend another layer to his character’s intensity as he hunts for the crew who killed his brother. Not just “prison big,” Driver gets in some post-incarceration cardio in the opening sequence, jogging an unknown distance across the California desert to retrieve his car from storage. They must have treadmills in maximum security.

SEE ALSO: School Of Rock: Dwayne Johnson’s 7 Life Lessons

Johnson’s turn as Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs forever changed the way that action stars view the benefits of baby oil on camera. In a stroke of genius, the makers of the Fast franchise–including Vin Diesel, who is a producer on the series–thought it was time to bring some muscle into the mix to pit against the ripped outlaw hero Dominic Toretto. In Agent Hobbs, however, Johnson brought life to a new (and markedly larger) breed of crime fighter. After years of leaner roles in films like Tooth Fairy (2010) and Doom (2005), Johnson packed on 30 lbs for Fast Five, dwarfing the doughy-by-comparison Diesel. Equipped with a walk-in closet of stretch-fit Under Armour shirts and a Costco-size jug of baby oil, Johnson’s lean, vascular physique was as impressive as the stunts the franchise is known for.

SEE ALSO: The Muscle Behind The ‘Fast & Furious’ Cast

2013’s Pain & Gain was a dream opportunity for Johnson, who got to play an early ’90s iron-loving gym rat alongside Mark Wahlberg. In a 2013 interview with M&F, the wrestler-turned-action-star opined on the chance to weave his favorite hobby, bodybuilding, into his on-screen work.

“The one mainstay…has been bodybuilding. I just love the feeling of being in the gym and transforming my body through good old-fashioned hard work and proper nutrition.”

The production schedule, however, meant that Johnson and his co-stars would have to maintain their size and shape for three torturous months of filming. To keep his near-competition-ready physique on point all that time, Johnson enlisted the guidance of IFBB pro and show-prep consultant George Farah. His breakfast typically consisted of 10 ounces of cod, two eggs, and two cups of oatmeal.

SEE ALSO: Dwayne Johnson Says He Once Considered MMA

Of all the up-and-coming action stars in Hollywood, it might have been easy for producers to look past Johnson for the iconic role of Hercules. But then again, when it comes to a role played by the likes of Steve Reeves, Lou Ferrigno, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, you can’t allow the character to devolve physically. You have to go bigger. You have to go with Dwayne Johnson. The film experienced delays at the outset as Johnson recovered from multiple surgeries: one to repair a triple hernia and another to repair two leg muscles that had torn away from his pelvis during WrestleMania 29 in his match against John Cena. But it didn’t end up affecting his on-screen look. Johnson followed a body-building split designed by Dave Rienzi of Rienzi Strength and Conditioning in Sunrise, FL. Rienzi didn’t resort to any exotic exercises or trendy equipment, instead relying on a simple, proven size-and-shred principle: unearthly amounts of volume. Johnson’s back routine, for example, which began with four sets of pullups to failure, ended up totaling 28 sets. Clearly, this exceeds by more than double the amount of sets recommended for larger body parts (12 to 16), but Rienzi emphasizes that it was a temporary approach to elicit a particular result.

“You can’t sustain that level of volume too long without overtraining,” Rienzi says.

By the time cameras rolled, Johnson was a very lean 260 lbs. Setting aside his dimensions for a moment, it’s worth noting that he was taking down nearly 5,000 calories per day and more than 500g of protein—totals that would intestinally cripple most of us. Johnson, then 40, couldn’t have been happier with the process or the product.

“Certainly, Arnold had put in time when he did Conan, and he set the bar very high.”

SEE ALSO: Mythical Proportions: An Exclusive Interview With Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

In reprising his role as Hobbs in Furious 7, Johnson found even more ways to call attention to his outright physical dominance. Every bit as massive as in Fast Five (2011) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013), it took about five minutes before he was putting Jason Statham through glass tables, diving through windows, and crushing a Chevy Suburban after falling six stories to the street. To prep, Johnson followed a routine similar to the one he took on for Hercules, only this time he wasn’t fresh out of the operating room. Johnson returned to waking up at 4 a.m. for 30 to 60 minutes of cardio. He followed with a Herculean-size breakfast and then the weight room for what he calls “a little clangin’ and bangin’.” In the end, Hobbs had his share of moments, like shattering his way out of a plaster cast simply by flexing.

SEE ALSO: The Rock Bulks Up For ‘Fast & Furious 8’

What’s the difference between the protagonists in Jerry Maguire and HBO’s Ballers? One can buy suits off the rack while the other has to have them tailored to house his barrel-chested girth and abject manliness. Dwayne Johnson’s portrayal of former NFL standout Spencer Strasmore has set the fitness bar higher—and wider and bigger and stronger—for sports agents, business managers, and accountants on the silver screen. Strasmore is recently retired from his day job of crushing people on the gridiron and therefore still looks every bit the part. In real life, Johnson played football for the University of Miami and had a short stint with the Canadian Football League in 1995, but he holds the physique of someone who could still separate man from ball on any given Sunday if he really wanted to.

It may have seemed like the producers were going for the low-hanging fruit when they cast Dwayne Johnson to be lifeguard Mitch Buchanan in the upcoming reboot of the old TV series Baywatch.

As with the original, the producers seemed bent on hiring a wide-ranging lineup of men and women who looked better wearing less. Save for a cameo from none other than “the Hoff,” Johnson is the elder (and fitter) statesman of a lifeguard crew that also features Zac Efron. Johnson and Efron made headlines during filming by going mano a mano in a series of beach-based battles of physical supremacy—obstacle courses, tire flips, pullup contests, refrigerator-rigged yoke walks…the list goes on. Johnson, of course, got the better of most of these face-offs, which you can catch photographic evidence of on his Instagram account. In one “battle,” Efron and Johnson held a pullup contest, going rep for rep until one man couldn’t hold on to the bar any longer. Efron performed admirably, according to Johnson, with 99 pullups. Johnson, seeing no need to add insult to injury, halted the show at 100. The film is slated for release on May 25, 2017.

SEE ALSO: Zac Efron Gets Shredded To Work With The Rock