We often have those celebrities who everyone treats as the Hollywood darlings. The celebrities with no haters or the ones who always seem to appear over and over again as the safe bet for drawing in audiences. One of the mainstay celebrities for nearly a decade now has been Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. However, I feel the cracks in the nice guy facade are starting to show.

When promoting the film “Black Adam,” The Rock kept repeating that the DC Universe was going to be changed by this new installment. Even though there were rumors of major changes and reboots coming for Warner Bros, The Rock assured fans that this would be the movie to put things on the right track. It was not. “Black Adam” was easily one of the worst films of last year and the post-credit scene has aged so poorly it is just plain sad. 

Despite the film majorly underperforming at the box-office, The Rock refused to accept it and still remains in denial that the movie was unsuccessful. DC also is struggling at the box-office with the recently released “Shazam: Fury of the Gods.” The film opened with a measly $30.5 million, which for a superhero film (and one with a budget of $250 million), it is looking to be one the year’s biggest bombs. Recently, Zachary Levi seemingly confirmed that The Rock may have had a hand in both film’s troubles.

The “Shazam” star reposted a report on Instagram that explained The Rock allegedly was furious that he was asked to cameo in “Fury of the Gods” and refused to allow any characters from that movie appear in the latter. He supposedly refused Shazam to make a cameo in “Black Adam” as well, despite the two being the literal hero and villain of each other’s stories in the comics. While none of this is confirmed, with Levi’s post and The Rock’s actions the past few years, it would not surprise me if this was the case. 

Take the ridiculous contracts The Rock, Vin Diesel and Jason Statham have when it comes to the “Fast and Furious” films. In a Wall Street Journal article published in 2019, it was revealed that each of them has clauses in their contracts that limit how many times they can take a punch. They would sit in the editing room and work with producers, keeping count of hits and making sure they did not seem like “wimps.”

That is pure madness. Action heroes have always wanted to have the image of the big and strong lead — the immovable mountain, if you will. However, not only does it continue years’ worth of toxic masculinity that has seeped into the genre as a whole, but it makes them immediately less interesting. Why should we care when the characters are invulnerable and incapable of being defeated? The reason a character like John McClane in the “Die Hard” franchise is so engaging is due to him taking a beating. By the end of each film, he is literally being held together by duct tape. 

This is an issue that goes far beyond action stars. I feel more and more actors are scared to play against type and refuse to play parts that would require them to act. Ryan Reynolds plays himself in every movie, and so does Dwayne Johnson, Tom Cruise, the list goes on. Sure, they might be able to poke fun at themselves, but never to the point where it would make them feel inferior.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, think of all the great actors who have benefited from playing against their usual typecasting. Dave Bautista was terrific in “Knock at the Cabin” from earlier this year. Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen have both earned praise for their dramatic turns in films like “Uncut Gems” and “The Fabelmans.” Heck, even Cruise at one point was willing to do something like “Collateral” or “Tropic Thunder.”

Obviously, actors should have a say in the films they are working on, but when they become the driving force and calling the shots behind the scenes to improve their image, rather than the movie as a whole, it becomes detrimental to the art of filmmaking as a whole. Actors need to start acting like people and not like walking-talking brand deals.

Share