Dwayne Johnson Reveals His Biggest Struggle, And It Isn’t On His List Of Major Injuries
Dwayne Johnson has put it on the line physically at different times during his career. But the many injuries haven't even been the challenge
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It can be difficult to believe that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is actually a real person. Everything about the man seems larger than life. From his legendary Instagram cheat meal posts, where he eats enough sushi to feed a family of four, to his being one of the most highly paid social media influencers in the world, to having multiple action-adventure films starring superheroes that have the word “red” in the title, Johnson is basically a real-life superhero. Remember how he played a demi-god in Disney’s Moana? Sometimes it feels like that wasn’t just a role.
But Dwayne Johnson is a real person and has problems like the rest of us. In a recent interview with Men’s Journal about his upcoming DCEU film, he revealed that his greatest struggles are with mental adversity and fatigue. Although he is undoubtedly a shockingly in-shape figure, the list of injuries he goes over are truly shocking. Multiple knee surgeries, a torn Achilles tendon, muscles literally torn apart. It is a good reminder of how even the most electrifying man in sports entertainment still has to go through brutal, stressful training to get to where he is. See the Dwayne Johnson quote from Men’s Journal below:
I’ve sustained a number of injuries over the years that have been difficult to overcome, but I’m lucky that I’ve never been injured in the gym. I was brought up to train hard and train smart. But… I’ve had five knee surgeries, a torn Achilles. I had to be sewn back together. The top of my quad was torn from my pelvis. The other major adversity has just been fatigue, which can get us all. I know it gets me, and sometimes the last thing you want to do is go to the gym. But when you’re able to push yourself and you fight past that fatigue — that’s when you can find greatness.
How does Dwayne Johnson do it? A recent Instagram post of his is very illuminating. In the caption to a picture of Dwayne Johnson in a gym, covered in sweat and a somewhat alarming amount of vein-poppage, the superstar breaks down his philosophy. See it here:
Simply put, Johnson adjusts his mentality to think of the work that he has to do to achieve success not as a “have to” but as a “get to.” It is basically turning the difficulties and mental strain that we all work through on some level into a sense of honorable privilege. Honestly, it’s a pretty good way of looking at the world. Probably explains why his tequila is so successful.
It sounds pretty necessary for Dwayne Johnson to adhere to this philosophy to keep going (and to get to keep going). The man is one of the single busiest working people in Hollywood, if not the world at large. Aside from the aforementioned tequila (which has sold over 600,00 cases as of December), he is the second-highest-paid influencer on Instagram after Cristiano Ronaldo. Then you take into account that he has an autobiographical NBC series Young Rock, and is co-owner of the XFL Football League.
And then, you take into account the long-brewing Robert Zemeckis film The King about the historical founder of Hawaii, and an upcoming reboot of John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, it is a whole lot. After all, Dwayne Johnson has a new film with Chris Evans coming up called Red One, a few more movies with Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds following the hit Netflix movie Red Notice, and oh yeah, his new DCEU movie Black Adam. That’s a lot of “get to” for one man, but if anyone is going to, it’s Dwayne Johnson.
