Dwayne Johnson is getting candid about his health and his career.
The 54-year-old wrestler and actor spoke out in a cover story for Esquire‘s Summer issue, available on newsstands on June 16.
During the conversation, he addressed a health scare, The Smashing Machine not getting him an Oscar nomination, his position on talking about politics, and how AI will affect the future.
See some of the highlights…
On his testicular health scare after finding a lump: “I didn’t even tell Lauren [Hashian, his wife]. I didn’t want to worry her before I knew if it was anything to even worry about…By the way: I’m fine…But I didn’t know that then, and the thing was really painful.”
On a doctor scheduling an ultrasound, but having to wait until after a Jumanji event:
“So I had to live with that for those twenty-four hours, not knowing—and I had to be on all day, joking around, making speeches. But! I’m okay. So.”
On not getting an Oscar nomination for The Smashing Machine: “It would have been incredible to get nominated for an Oscar…I realized very quickly that it’s a rare thing to reach this pinnacle where you’re even having these conversations. And it’s exciting! It would have been amazing. I wish it happened. But it didn’t. But in no uncertain terms did I ever thing, Oh, that doesn’t matter. I always thought it mattered. And it has lit a fire in my spine, which is: Let’s go back to work.”
On not talking about politics: “What I have learned through experience is that I need to keep—need, not want—the main thing the main thing. And the main thing for me, the thing that in the morning I swing my legs out of bed and I run towards, is creating. It’s art. It’s storytelling. I’ve learned I’m going to keep my politics to myself. There are moments when, hey, there’s nothing we can’t talk about. If I’m wrong, I’ll tell you I’m wrong. Or if I feel like I got a leg up and this is the right way to go, I’ll share it with you. Politics is omnipresent and it’s forever. I don’t like it. [Laughs.] I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all the bullshot that comes with it.”
On the impression he makes on young men: “I’m hyperaware of my position, who I am and what I am to young men. I know because I hear from them every day, Ryan, on social-media comments. DMs. Just guys out there. And I don’t want that to go away, because I know what it’s like to struggle as a young man and try to stay on the right track and make f*cked-up decisions and do things that are f*cked-up and pay the price, get arrested. So yeah, I’m aware.”
On the possibilities and threats of AI: “I’ve always been an advocate for embracing big change—after taking a hard look at it. We can either stick our heads in the sand and be afraid, or we can say, Okay, we’re here. Let’s see. Let’s explore.”
For more from Dwayne Johnson, head to esquire.com.
He also just clapped back at criticism for selling shampoo as a bald man.
Posted To:Dwayne Johnson Lauren Hashian
