From Hawaii to Hollywood Dwayne The Rock Johnson opens up ahead of Moana 2

Hello, Dwayne. Hello, aloha. Welcome to Hawaii. Thank you. It's not every day you get a warm aloha. Thank you so much. Welcome. Mwah. From one of Hawaii's favorite sons. Mwah. Welcome to Hawaii. Thank you. Dwayne Johnson, a global superstar so famous he's known by one name, The Rock. You represent so much. We're in Honolulu for a project close to his heart, steeped in his Polynesian heritage. Go like this. What lies beyond, under skies I've never seen. The world premiere of Moana 2, where he doesn't just star, he's an executive producer. If you were to finish the sentence, Moana is... Moana's legacy, Moana's soul. Moana is just in the DNA. The first film, groundbreaking for its diversity and originality, beloved by fans everywhere. The blockbuster soundtrack, smashing records. The heroine, Moana, was not a princess, rather seeing how far she'll go. Forging her own path on the sea. And she was not looking for love. Maui, the muscular demigod, was her sidekick. I interrupted. From the top. Hero of men. In Moana 2, The Rock brings Maui to life again. Maui? With all his heart and soul. And his funny bone. Okay. Rule number one. You never saw me like this, even though I still look very cool. You look like a kidney stone. And you look like someone who would know what that is. In what ways are you similar, and what ways are you different from the character? Maui is determined. I'm determined. Maui is a lover of language. He loves language. He loves words. And I enjoy that part, too, about what I do. So I'm going to go handle my business. Maui had a tough background and a tough upbringing. Very early. For me, too, here in Hawaii. It's represented a lot of struggle here. Things are different these days. I'm really grateful talking to you. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. 14 miles that way, I was getting arrested years ago, multiple times. Dwayne, who came from humble beginnings, struggling as a teenager, and spending part of his troubled childhood in Hawaii. Hawaii, it means it's home. And it's where I grew up, it's my roots. And, Juju, it's crazy, because I've been having these kind of pinch-me-emo moments. I grew up getting in trouble getting arrested as a kid, and really trying hard to stay on the right track. And then eventually we had to leave the island, because we were evicted. Finding his footing in football, which gave him a second chance. This idea of pivoting when you don't succeed. Literally, when you fail, you have to switch course and try it again. Yes! You will be destroyed. And your wayfinder, too. Now I kind of miss the lava monster. Ow! Ow! Like Moana, when your NFL dreams didn't come true, you pivoted to wrestling and then to acting. That's right. When I was getting arrested here in Hawaii, multiple times, I had this crazy dream. I don't know how I was going to go from getting arrested to the NFL, but I dreamed of playing for the Giants. That dream never happened for me with the NFL. And I had to let that failure be the reason for me to find a different path and realize that just because this didn't work out, I've got to close this chapter in my life. I do believe there's something else out there, and I'm willing to put in the work. Dwayne pivoted to professional wrestling, launching himself as The Rock in the WWE, a nod to his pioneering father, Rocky Johnson, and becoming one of the sport's most popular wrestlers of all time. And you had a brilliant wrestling career. Thank you. And you're not so bad in Hollywood. The Rock's character, Maui, in Moana, inspired by his adopted grandfather, Samoan high chief and WWF wrestling legend, Peter Maivia. What does this movie mean to you in that regard? You know, my grandfather, he died here in Hawaii. And he died in 1982. And we were here when he died. And I was running around. I didn't understand the significance of his passing. You were 10. I was 10, yeah. He was just like Maui. And from his build to his hair to his charisma, and he would sing and he was loved. So every time I play Maui, I'm in the skin of my grandfather. And it really moves me. It's okay that tough guys can get emotional, Rock. Yeah. Well, pretend tough guys get emotional too, yes. Thank you. You talk about that a lot, that even tough guys need to be vulnerable. That even tough guys need to somehow ask for help, which is what Maui ends up doing in the movie. He does, yeah. And that was a big deal. Thank you for bringing that up. And that there's this idealized way in our culture and society in that men got to be tough. And I love that there's a lot of mental health talk these days, because 20 years ago there was no mental health check-ins, especially as dudes and men. What can we do for self-care? I saw an Instagram post that you had where you were sitting watching a sunset. Yes. And the caption's great. He finally learned the importance of self-care. Yes. And I heard a quote a long time ago, which is you got to protect the thing that allows you to do what you do. Whatever that thing is. So for me, as silly as this sounds, my things that I need to protect are when I go to work, I need my pickup truck, and I need to drive myself. Right, right. So that hour, or whatever it is, is my time. I protect that. But if I'm here in Hawaii and I have my feet here on this sacred land, I'm up at 5 a.m. and I'm out at that beach and I'm watching and I'm appreciating and I'm absorbing. Because it's crazy, right? The life is just crazy and it goes, it goes, it goes. Dwayne broke into Hollywood first with a part in The Mummy Returns. You again. How do I get out of here? Through that door. And soon after, leading the franchise in The Scorpion King and providing comic relief in Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle. I have to warn you, I think I'm a very strong puncher. But perhaps his most captivating role, the demigod Maui in Moana. And in Moana's next adventure, whether you're young or old, big or small, teamwork is a major theme. Do I hear people? Those aren't people. Kakamora. And I thought it was an interesting kind of representation that the people on the raft were the elderly farmer and the brainiac girl, that they have to come together and work together. Thematically, that was really important to us to show that. And it's such a simple concept. It's the idea of teamwork. But at the same time, there's still basic tenets that matter and I think that are important for young kids around the world to learn from. Because ultimately, when you do work together, regardless of where you come from, you get stuff done. All the excitement coming out in a Polynesian cheer. It's got to be a chee-hoo! Ready? Yeah, I'm ready. Chee-hoo! It's also the title of rock's musical number. A song called Can I Get a Chee-Hoo. It's my job to give a motivational speech. It's your job to finally practice what you preach. Because of you, I'm a better me. And I didn't even think that was a possibility. You got me out of mess after mess. Demi got in distress, but now the roles are reversed. Okay. That's awesome. I love it. I love it. When we come back, the Hollywood hero honoring real-life heroes and survivors being a rock for those who lost so much. Stay with us.