http://www.chud.com/news/ mar04/mar28walking.php3
Next,
we chatted with the man himself, The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson.
I'd met Rock once before on the Santa Monica beach for a
Mummy Returns DVD event and he was a great
interview - something I attributed to the fact that he was
still new at doing neverending press. Wrong-o. He was
just as cool at the Walking Tall junket as
he was then. Great interview, great guy.
Q:
Is Be Cool a real departure for you? You play a
gay, country singer...
Rock:
A gay villain? Yeah. It's so funny because Elmore Leonard
wrote it and when he wrote it in the original draft, it's
'Chili Palmer - who's John Travolta's character - looks
across the room and he sees Elliot Wilhelm, Samoan, 30,
can raise one eyebrow. Trying to act. Wants to be the
real thing. And is gay.' I was like, 'Wow, that's interesting!'
I didn't actually speak to Elmore, but according to those
who talked to him, he's like, 'Oh, no - I wrote that based
on The Rock. Not necessarily the gay part, but based on
him - never ever thinking he would play the role.' Before
you know, here I am playing the role.
Q:
How's that experience been?
Rock:
Oh, it's been fantastic. I get the chance to work with
John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Vince Vaughn
- it's great.
Q:
It's also not an action role, right?
Rock:
Yeah, there's no action in the movie. It's fantastic because
again, you get to test your comedic timing off some really,
really good actors. It's a blast.
(image removed) Q:
Is it a way for audiences to see beyond the action stuff?
Rock:
Yeah, for sure. I took the role because it was a great
opportunity to work with great actors, take a role that
you wouldn't necessarily expect me to play - being a bad
guy, being gay, poking fun at myself and raising my eyebrow
to John Travolta like, 'I got talent!' It's a lot of fun.
Q:
You also physically transform yourself...
Rock:
That was important, too, to take a role like this and try
to transform myself as best as I possibly could. Afro,
the goatee is a lot thicker.
Q:
Do you know when you start Spyhunter?
Rock:
Yeah, you bet - in July. Can't wait. I was just up in
the room doing an awesome, secretive meeting. We took out
all the concepts and what it looks like - the car. It's
a movie based off a videogame. It's with Universal and
the videogame is about a hunter of spies, hence the title.
The car - it's this awesome car. GM is making us this amazing
car that breaks off into a boat into a three-wheeler into
a motorcycle. It's really incredible.
Later,
he brought up his passion project - King Kamehameha...
Rock:
When I do King Kamehameha, which is based
on the story of the King of Hawaii, he was like Braveheart
- only worse in terms of his viciousness and his temperament.
Q:
When is that happening?
Rock:
Hopefully, probably, maybe 2005. There's no rush for that
for me. As an actor, I just want to be ready. The script
is ready and they're just working on it and tweaking it
and making it right, so there's no rush.
(image removed) Q:
Are you developing anything else at the moment?
Rock:
There's a comedy that I'm excited about that I might do
after Spyhunter called Skiptracer
and it's from the writer of Big Daddy, Stevie
Franks. It's very, very funny. It's an action-comedy with
a lot of comedy. It's a two-hander, so it's a buddy movie
and my buddy is a nine year-old girl.
Q:
Do you know who they're going to cast in that?
Rock:
I don't know. They were talking about Keisha Castle-Hughes
because we're of the same descent, but I think she's a little
older.
Q:
Is the 'Theme from Peter Gunn' going to be a part
of the Spyhunter movie?
Rock:
Yeah, it has to be. A version of it - a contemporary
version. But it's great.
Q:
Is Spyhunter a more serious role?
Rock:
It's like Mission: Impossible was for Tom
Cruise. Like that and it is smartly written.
Q:
A franchise-starter?
Rock:
It's a possibility.
Q:
Are you producing Kamehameha or how did that ball
get rolling?
Rock:
I bought the...
Q:
The rights?
Rock:
No, they already had the rights at Columbia, but they weren't
going to do anything with it. I don't know why, but it's
really an amazing story that hasn't been told - probably
because they haven't found the right guy who can pull it
off. Not just acting, but who could be believable as Kamehameha.
That would be like what Ali was to Will Smith
for me. Not that I'm looking to get nominated, but that
project that you hold.
(image removed) Q:
Who'd direct that?
Rock:
I don't know. Somebody awesome.
Q:
You have anybody in mind?
Rock:
I mean, oh, sure. Steven Spielberg! I don't know. There
are many.
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edoug
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| #2 Posted on 1.4.04 1157.27 Reposted on: 1.4.11 1158.53 | Thanks. Looks like he's going to be busy for a long time, of course if Walking Tall tanks he'll be challenging Benoit nest week. | chad-wick
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| #3 Posted on 2.4.04 1933.33 Reposted on: 2.4.11 1933.37 | Originally posted by edoug Thanks. Looks like he's going to be busy for a long time, of course if Walking Tall tanks he'll be challenging Benoit nest week.
lmao thats funny,but it wont happen.rock will be back to save someone at the end of this year and will be making his"grand"wrestlemania appearence.WMXXI's opponent...HBK. | XPacArmy
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| #4 Posted on 2.4.04 1935.56 Reposted on: 2.4.11 1940.01 | Originally posted by chad-wick
Originally posted by edoug Thanks. Looks like he's going to be busy for a long time, of course if Walking Tall tanks he'll be challenging Benoit nest week.
lmao thats funny,but it wont happen.rock will be back to save someone at the end of this year and will be making his"grand"wrestlemania appearence.WMXXI's opponent...HBK.
Why HBK? | Big Bad
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| #5 Posted on 2.4.04 2319.18 Reposted on: 2.4.11 2321.36 | Why not HBK? It's certainly a Wrestlemania-caliber match in terms of stature, and it has the novelty of the two never having wrestled before.
It's great that Rock is having so much success. I'm REALLY looking forward to Be Cool....the book was outstanding and Get Shorty was a fine adaptation. | Santa Sangre
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| #6 Posted on 3.4.04 1514.06 Reposted on: 3.4.11 1515.16 | I'd love to see Rocky take on HBK sure...But Rock is gonna put over young guys like usual. They way things are going it looks like a Rock/Cena or Rock/Dupree next year. Both, while not a classic in the ring like Rock/HBK would be, will have awesome promos leading up to WM. | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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