My Life in PICTURES Dwayne Johnson 'The Rock'

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, THE ACTOR BUILT UPON HIS SUCCESS IN THE WRESTLING RING TO FORGE A MEGA MOVIE CAREER

- Jennie Noonan

My past is directly responsible for who I am today. -THE ROCK

Ahead of his 50th birthday on May 2, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was feeling reflective about what he values most in life, particularly in the light of a global pandemic.

“We don’t get time back,” he said. “In 2022 and beyond, the people, the projects, the energy, the everything. Life. If it gets my time and gets me out of bed, then I’ll go to sleep knowing it was worth it and it was all time wisely spent. Time is our greatest and most valuable currency.”

When he was a kid, Johnson moved around a lot and often found himself in hot water for fighting and stealing. Although he’s from a family of wrestlers – both his dad and his maternal grandfather made careers of the sport – he pursued American football in high school and landed a full scholarship to Florida’s University of Miami, where he met his first wife, Dany Garcia. He went on to play in the Canadian Football League, but was cut from the team after only two months at age 22.

2004

Johnson won 16 championships in the WWE over the course of his stellar career.

2000

As a wrestler, he was known for his catchphrase, “Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?”