Dwayne Johnson: I Started With $7
Dwayne Johnson is on a bit of a roll. Roles in ‘Furious 7′, ‘San Andreas’, ‘Central Intelligence’, and the upcoming ‘Moana’, ‘Fast 8′, and ‘Baywatch’, have culminated in Johnson being named top of Forbes’ annual World’s Highest Paid Actors list.
Rather than sitting behind close doors, staying away from the internet, and counting his money, Johnson instead took to Twitter to reveal the very, very humble beginnings that his career sprouted from.
“Want to say two things about this,” Johnson wrote. “I started w/ $7 bucks. If I can overcome, so can you. Waffle House on me!!”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter last month, Johnson revealed that when he was 14 he returned to his home in Hawaii alongside his mother, Ata, to learn that they’d been evicted. At the time, his father Rocky, a professional wrestler, was making a paltry sum working on the circuit, while a week earlier their car had been repossessed, too.
At this point, Johnson looked to take his life into his own hands and he set about building up his body. After years of working out he won a full NFL scholarship to the University Of Miami, only for injuries and depression scuppered his chances of playing in the NFL.
In 1995 he signed for CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, but soon after he was relegated to the practice team where he was being paid just $250 a week, before he was ultimately cut from the team. Returning to Tampa, Johnson looked in his pocket to find that he only had $7 to his name.
It was at this point that he began to evolve into a wrestler, under the stewardship and training of his father. By 1996 he’d signed with the World Wrestling Federation and the rest as they say is history.
Johnson pocketed $64.5 million over the last year, to finish ahead of second placed Jackie Chan ($61 million) and third placed Matt Damon ($55 million), while, according to recent rumours, he’ll also be ecstatic to have made nearly $30 million more than his ‘Fast 8′ rival Vin Diesel, who finished 7th with $35 million.
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[Image via HBO & Warner Bros]
