Dwayne Johnson Shares New Photos From His YOUNG ROCK Series Featuring Andre the Giant and More
Dwayne Johnson has shared some new photos from his upcoming Young Rock comedy series, which is currently in production. There are three images, and with each one, Johnson shared a little history about himself and the cast of the series.
Young Rock charts Johnson’s childhood “from growing up in a strong and resilient family, to being surrounded by the wild characters of his professional wrestling family, to playing football at the University of Miami. It will explore the rollercoaster that has shaped Johnson into the man he is today and the larger-than-life characters he’s met along the way.”
One of the photos includes a first look tease at legendary wrestler Andre the Giant! When talking about Andre, Johnson said:
“When you get taught a lesson about RESPECT from Andre the Giant - you LISTEN… And anytime ‘Uncle Andre’ had a lesson to teach me, he would always pick me up so I always eye to eye with him.”
I love that! It’s pretty awesome to see Andre The Giant will have a role in the series and that the wrestler actually played a role in Johnson’s life.
This next image comes from the set of the film and features members of Johnson’s family. The actor explains, “The real rock of our family, my mom Ata Johnson being played by the talented and lovely @staceyleilua. My pops, Rocky “Soulman” Johnson being played by @officialjosephleeanderson. And my uncles - the most vicious, meanest and prettiest tag team in the history of pro wrestling - Afa and Sika, THE WILD SAMOANS - played brilliantly by @fasituaamosa & @johntui1.”
This final image features Young Rock hanging out with his dad Rocky Johnson and The Junkyard Dog. When talking about these “trailblazing OG’s”, Johnson said, “All I wanted to do as a little punk kid was hang with these dudes. To me, they were the REAL superheroes. Charismatic, cool and bad ass. My pops, The Soulman, Rocky Johnson and the wrecking ball himself - The Junkyard Dog. The resemblance of these actors playing these men is mind blowing and uncanny.”
The series will star Adrian Groulx as 10-year-old Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. “Little Dewey,” and the anchor of the series. Bradley Constant as a 15-year-old Johnson, at a time when he is doing his best to fit in as a normal teenager. Marco Polo star Uli Latukefu is set to play Johnson from the ages of 18 to 20, a time when Dwayne had just been recruited to play football on a scholarship at the University of Miami.
The cast for the series also includes Stacey Leilua as Ata Johnson, Dwayne’s strong, positive mother, Joseph Lee Anderson as Dwayne’s charismatic and charming father, and finally Ana Tuisila as Lia Maivia, Dwayne’s sweet grandmother who is a cutthroat, ruthless businesswoman when she needs to be.
The series comes from Nahnatchka Khan, who co-wrote the pilot with Jeff Chiang. Both are executive producing alongside Johnson under his Seven Bucks Productions banner.
The series is set to premiere sometime in 2021.