DWAYNE JOHNSON!

Do you have any phobias, like lizards or spiders or anything weird that you encountered in Hawaii?

Sure! The spider thing I’ve never liked, but who does though?  Otherwise, not really. I grew up here in Hawaii, so I was used to everything that was here.

What was it like going back and visiting your high school?

Visiting the high school was awesome.  I haven’t been there since I was 14-15 years old.  I visited my high school unannounced.  I wanted to go to where the football field was and where the weight room was where I spent so much time and where I started to understand the value of discipline and hard work.

What did you say to the kids?

I spoke with the principal first of all and wanted to know how the students were doing and how the school’s doing.  He was very, very happy and proud to tell me how well the students are doing. I told all the kids that after all these years, it’s amazing to come back.  I told everybody to keep up the great work and keep chasing greatness.

You were something of a troublemaker back then.  When you were driving around, did you pass any places that brought back some of those memories?

I did and that became my reflective moment as I’m driving through town and looking at all the places that I got in trouble. I was very fortunate at that time that I had great parents who were patient. I also had a couple of coaches at that time who believed in my potential, even when I didn’t.  And that’s an admirable thing to do, I think, in any coach or any adult figure in someone’s life to a kid who’s getting in trouble.  ‘I see your potential.’  So, I’m grateful about that.

How did you pull off the stunt where you are riding on giant bees?  Was it a rig that you rode on? 

It’s a big rig that goes up and down, and we had multiple cameras filming all around.  We’re against a green screen.  We have cranes and jib cams (a camera on a long pole), because this was a very big sequence.  And when you read it, the scene written on the page doesn’t do the scene on the screen justice.  It’s going to be visually stunning and amazing, especially with the colours.

 

You’ve had had some hard times in life.  Do you ever think, ‘I can’t believe this is my life now?’

Every day.  Every day in some form or fashion I have a moment of gratitude. I’m lucky, I believe in hard work, and I believe hard works pays. That’s a mantra that I have, there's great value in that but also a little bit of luck, too.

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is out now on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download from Warner Home Video.