Dwayne Johnson began his career as a wrestler under the name “The Rock”. He was a member of the WWF for eight years, and quickly rose to fame as one of the most famous wrestlers. During his career as a professional wrestler, Johnson referred to himself as “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports and Entertainment”.  In the early 2000s, he transitioned to acting in movies and established himself as a successful commercial actor. He occasionally returned to the ring, but soon placed his career focus entirely on acting.

Dwayne Johnson

With his major role in The Scorpion King, Dwayne Johnson successfully moved into mainstream entertainment. Some of his notable roles over the years have been in movies like The Game Plan, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and The Tooth Fairy. 

The Scorpion King: How it Set the Path for Johnson’s Career

The Scorpion King series is a spin-off from The Mummy series. It shows viewers the origins of Dwayne Johnson‘s titular character, Mathayus. Mathayus is a mercenary who is hired to stop the reign of Memnon, played by Steven Brand. Mathayus went on to serve as a template for many of Johnson’s roles in the future.

Dwayne Johnson as Mathayus

An interesting thing to be noted about The Scorpion King is that director Chuck Russell and Stephen Sommers reworked Mathayus to be more of a heroic character than before. In The Mummy Returns, he played the role of a power-hungry, morally corrupted character who sold his soul to Anubis (Egyptian God) to acquire a powerful army.

Dwayne Johnson Reveals his Sentiments about The Scorpion King

The Scorpion King showed viewers the first taste of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a leading role, and it is safe to say audiences loved it. Despite the success of the film, the lead actor wasn’t quite comfortable filming. Johnson, who had previously been a professional wrestler, had a rather difficult time adjusting to his new job as an actor. He revealed to Entertainment Weekly in 2001, that it was “harder work” than he expected.

Dwayne Johnson in The Scorpion King

“The second session with my acting coach, an hour into it, I’m bawling,” Johnson said. “It’s very challenging. It’s different from the industry I’m coming from. On wrestling shows, we don’t have to deal with things like the loss of a family member. But in movies, you have to learn to express a whole array of emotions. That’s the hardest part of it for me.”

The Scorpion King launched a series of DVD sequels, but without Johnson, they weren’t as much of a success. They lacked the action and sense of humor that made the first film enjoyable to viewers.

However, it is rumored that a reboot of the iconic franchise is on the way, with Dwayne Johnson himself as the producer.