Dwayne Johnson is a household name in the entertainment industry—a name that is widely recognized worldwide. From wrestling to acting, the actor, businessman, and professional wrestler has built an impressive empire worth $800 million. Yet, despite his achievements, there is one regret that still haunts him to this day: not being able to say goodbye to his father before he passed away.
Like us, The Rock, 51, has always considered his dad to be a role model for his professional wrestling career. In contrast, they had an uneven personal relationship that got better and stronger right up until Johnson’s father passed away. With over 390 million followers on Instagram, The Scorpion King actor made a public confession about not being able to say goodbye to his father.
His father, Rocky Johnson, died on January 15, 2020, before they could make amends for their “complicated relationship”.
Dwayne Johnson’s Emotional Journey: The Regret That Lingers
Dwayne Johnson, whose net worth is estimated to be $800 million by Celebrity Net Worth, had a somewhat “complicated” relationship with his late father. Rocky Johnson instilled in his son the virtues of perseverance and hard work through his “tough fatherly love” & upbringing. In spite of this, there were unanswered questions that the father and son never got around to discussing.
In January 2020, Rocky Johnson, Johnson’s father, unexpectedly passed away due to a pulmonary embolism. Johnson was shocked to learn of his father’s death and was unable to say his final goodbye. In an emotional Instagram post, the actor expressed his regrets and penned:
“My regret in this life is that I never had a chance to say goodbye to him, because he died suddenly. I regret not reconciling our complicated father/son shit before I lost him. Raised me with tough fatherly love and an even tougher hand. The more I live life, the more grateful I am for it.”
It should be our top priority to maintain healthy relationships with our parents and other family members. The Rock went on to say, honoring his great father:
“He came up the hard way, and trail-blazed for all of us men of color – in any sport & level of entertainment. But it was also very important to him to pave the way for all men, any color – it didn’t matter.”
Even last year, the Jungle Cruise star urged fans who had difficult father-son relationships to try to resolve the issues and make amends. He stated as follows in his Instagram post:
“If you have an opportunity, if your old man is around and you do have a shot to reconcile it.”
This is not the first time the actor has shared something so heartfelt about his late father. There were several occasions when The Rock spoke about his fond memories of his dad.
When Dwayne Johnson Discussed His ‘Complicated’ Relationship With His Late Father
For his autobiographical sitcom Young Rock, Dwayne Johnson had to revisit some “incredibly tough” memories about his late father, Rocky Johnson. The Rock, Jeff Chiang, and Nahnatchka Khan created the series, which ran on NBC from February 16, 2021, to February 24, 2023.
The Black Adam star discussed his creative process with Chiang and Khan during NBC’s TCA press tour (via PEOPLE).
“I thought, well, let’s not take the easy route. But it was incredibly complicated and it was incredibly tough. Growing up, and you know we specifically went with these timelines in my life that were very defining times at 10 years old, 15 and 18 … there’s a lot of things in between those years that took place … but it was complicated and the relationship that I had with my dad was incredibly complicated — that was fueled by tough love.”
The father of three spoke about his relationship with his late father, who died at the age of 75:
“My dad was kicked out of his house at 13 and he was homeless, so that then shaped the man who then raised me. And in that complication came an extraordinary life that was full of travel. I lived in 13 different states by the time I was 13 years old, also lived in New Zealand.”
Renowned WWE wrestler Rocky Johnson and his partner Tony Atlas became the first Black champions in WWE history in 1983 when they won the World Tag Team Championship.
The actor went on to say that he wanted to provide viewers with a “different perspective” for those who might be experiencing or have experienced challenging family situations.
You can stream Young Rock on NBC.
