The Rock Sleighs Christmas
Entertainment Weekly|December 08,2017

WITH JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (OUTDEC. 20), DWAYNE JOHNSON PROVES WHYHE’S HOLLYWOOD’S HAPPIEST (AND HOTTEST) HARBINGER OF HOLIDAY CHEER. LET’S JUST CALL HIM DWANTA CLAUS. 

Devan Coggan
The Rock Sleighs Christmas

THE BIGGEST DRAWS AT ANY COMIC CONVENTION ARE THE BRANDS AND franchises—your Star Wars, your Game of Thrones, your Marvel movies. If you’re a celebrity, your value is directly related to whatever series you are a part of (or even, whatever series you were a part of 30 years ago). That is, of course, unless you are the Rock. Then you are your own brand. And everyone likes the Rock. ★ When you’re the Rock, you take the stage at L.A. Comic Con in late October to chants of “Rocky, Rocky, Rocky!” and every mention of any project you’ve ever been involved in elicits a roar. Your longtime career as a pro wrestler? Cheers. Your HBO show, Ballers? Cheers. Tooth Fairy? Cheers. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which doesn’t come out until Dec. 20? Very loud cheers. You will probably interrupt the panel to say hello to a 5-year-old boy in the front row or greet a gaggle of enthusiastic female wrestlers who invite you to grapple. When you turn to the audience for questions, most attendees want to know whether they can take a selfie or get a signature or even just get close to you. When someone finally poses an actual question, they ask whether you’re serious about running for President of the United States, to which you reply, “I think the People’s President has a really nice to it. I’ll just say that.” And that earns the biggest cheers yet.

LIKING THE ROCK IS ABOUT AS CONTROVERSIAL as liking puppies or chocolate. As his Jumanji director Jake Kasdan puts it: “When I tell people I’m working with him, everybody standing there always says, ‘Oh, I love the Rock.’ It’s almost like a reflexive, mechanical reaction.”

This story is from the December 08,2017 edition of Entertainment Weekly.

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This story is from the December 08,2017 edition of Entertainment Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.