Dwayne Johnson defied critics who called him 'too big' for leading man roles

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s career skyrocketed when he decided to reject traditional leading-man stereotypes, which otherwise

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published November 1st, the WWE-star-turned-actor reflected about the gamble he made when he switched his careers and how it eventually paid off.

“As I was pushing my career forward — doing my best to push my career forward — there were moments of doubt,” Johnson, 52, shared.

At the time, Johnson was advised to slim down and avoid the gym to fit the leading-man mold. “If you wanna be a leading man, you’re too big; you can’t go to the gym, you have to lose weight, you gotta go on a diet,” he was told.

Initially, he questioned himself and his choices, but then he had a breakthrough. “Excuse my language but f*** that, I’m not doing this anymore, I’m gonna do myself. And if I fail, then I can fail being me,” the Moana star decided.

This turning point came early in his Hollywood career, after his success in WWF and hosting Saturday Night Live. He starred in films like The Scorpion King and Walking Tall, and eventually chose to retire from wrestling to focus on acting.

“A funny thing happened when I said, ‘Ah, f— all this’: career went like this,” Johnson said, pointing upwards, emphasisng “the power of being authentic and being real.”