Dwayne Johnson Once Shared His Family Lived Through Mickey Rourke’s ‘The Wrestler’ in Real Life

Dwayne Johnson has come a long way from his days as a debuting wrestler. But at first, becoming a wrestler didn’t seem like the occupation that would serve Johnson well in the long run. That was especially true when his family briefly lived a similar lifestyle as Mickey Rourke’s character in The Wrestler.

How Dwayne Johnson’s family life mirrored ‘The Wrestler’ Dwayne Johnson | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Johnson has famously told the story about how his initial goal was to play for the NFL, but he wasn’t as fortunate as other inspiring football players. Eventually, he thought it best to put his football aspirations to rest. His next goal was to follow in the footsteps of his father, Rocky Johnson, by becoming a wrestler. But it was a decision his father was adamantly against at the time.

“We had the biggest fight between a father and a son over this and essentially, you’re right, he said, ‘Look around. Look what I have after all these years and I want more for you,’” Johnson once told Today.

Johnson asserted that his family’s lifestyle was reminiscent of Rourke’s in The Wrestler. In the Darren Aronofsky picture, Rourke played the fictional character Randy “The Ram” Robinson. Once a wrestling star, Rourke’s character was working odd jobs and having a difficult time getting by financially after his career fizzled.

“Mickey Rourke’s character in The Wrestler—that was my dad, that was my uncles, that was so many members of my family. It was the only thing they knew. And then they would end up wrestling for a hundred bucks, go to autograph signings for two hundred bucks,” Johnson recalled to Esquire.

Johnson’s father wanted a better future for him. But Johnson felt confident that wrestling was the path for him to take.

“And I said, ‘I know, but, and I appreciate that, but I feel like I have something to offer,’” Johnson recalled telling his dad.

Dwayne Johnson questioned if he should’ve stuck with wrestling

Johnson’s instincts proved correct in hindsight. Although it took a couple of years, he’d later become one of the biggest wrestlers in the world. He managed to parlay his popularity and skillset into a successful acting career. Both jobs had their pros and cons.

“Wrestling is intimate. You can reach out and touch the wrestlers. I don’t get that connection in movies, but the impact is so much greater,” he said. “You’re able to craft a longer career in movies. In wrestling, there’s a shelf life, and some wrestlers don’t pay attention to the shelf life.”

But for a while, acting didn’t offer him the kind of fulfillment he was looking for. He might’ve been making more money in Hollywood, but he wasn’t as satisfied with his career on the big screen. It reached the point where he wondered if he made a mistake.

“When I first came into acting, I had great opportunities to make a decent movie. I had a run there in 2005, ’06, ’07—for a long time it was ‘Oh, he’s the best thing in the movie that’s not that good.’ I started questioning: Did I make the right choice? Should I have stayed in wrestling a bit longer? And then budgets became lower and lower and the pay kinda stayed the same and there wasn’t a lot of growth,” he said.

Over time, Johnson learned the best way to approach the film industry was to be himself. He’d spent his first couple of years following incompatible advice from his team. He tried molding himself into the type of star others felt that he needed to be. But around 2010, Johnson changed his team and decided he was going to be more of himself. It was a gamble with a huge payoff.

Mickey Rourke bonded with Dwayne Johnson’s family in ‘The Wrestler’

In a way, Johnson also had a hand in getting Rourke into wrestling shape for The Wrestler. The actor endured an intense training regimen to pack on enough muscle for the movie. But he also needed to learn how to wrestle as well. Johnson’s family was instrumental in teaching Rourke how to move like an in-ring performer. During that period, Rourke bonded with Johnson’s uncle Afa.

“He was one of the Wild Samoans back in the ’80s. And I talked to The Rock the other day. I told him, ‘We’re sending you [the movie] and we want to hear what you have to say, too.’ I didn’t know it was his uncle. All the Samoans say they’re related to each other. I thought when Afa’s going on about his ‘nephew,’ ‘Yeah, every Samoan is related to Dwayne Johnson.’ And they are related. And when he spoke very fondly of him, it was like, ‘Wow,’” Rourke said according to Pop Entertainment.