Dwayne Johnson gave up his sky-rocketing wrestling career to make a name in Hollywood and indeed did. After playing some of the most iconic characters and signing up for mega franchises, the man has assured his fans that every decision he makes hits the bull’s eye. But again, the big guy too has his demons to deal with.
When Johnson signed up for Brett Ratner’s Hercules, the decision came with a fairly big sacrifice. The 50-year-old star turned down Transformers, given his commitments to Hercules and the iconic role went to Mark Walberg. Johnson wanted to stand right by his decision, but a previous fatal injury shook his dream of taking the Greek tale on screen. What happened next makes the perfect content for a motivational book.
Also Read: Hercules Live-Action Adaptation From Disney Confirmed, Guy Ritchie To Direct
Dwayne Johnson’s Injury Costed Hercules’ Team Millions
Dwayne Johnson is no less than the self-proclaimed Greek demigod when it comes to conviction. But, giving a legendary performance in the 2014 box office hit, Hercules, came with a fair share of challenges. While Johnson came out stronger than ever, his previous injury did cost the team over $6 million as they had to push the shooting by six weeks.
Dwayne Johnson’s story behind portraying the perfect body of the Greek demigod is nothing but motivational. While Johnson decided to choose Hercules over Transformers: The Age of Extinction, the stars didn’t work in his favor as an old pelvis tendon injury, which the actor suffered years ago during a high-profile WrestleMania bout against John Cena, led to a painful surgery. He revealed back in time:
“I had about 25 minutes left of a 50-minute match. The referee asked me, ‘Should we call it off?’ I knew something was wrong but continued to go. I reached down into my trunks to make sure no bones were sticking out (laughs).
I mean, it was WrestleMania, and we had an attendance record of like 80,000 people. I think I was running on adrenaline.”
This eventually led to an emergency triple-hernia operation weeks before the shooting for Brett Ratner’s movie was to begin. As Johnson went under the knife, the epic movie’s shooting was delayed by two weeks, costing the team millions of dollars due to the delay in shooting.
Pain Is A Rush For Success!
Dwayne Johnson is a man of his word, and none of the challenges could shake his will to do justice to Hercules. The best part of this whole process was that Ratner never left Johnson’s side. When he told the director, Ratner said, “I’m here for you.” Dwayne Johnson recalled in an interview:
“Because it was such a big movie, the crew had been there for four to six months already, prepping, building these massive sets.
And in the entertainment business, if you push a project of that magnitude, the likelihood of it coming back with the same cinematographer, the same director, same players, is slim to none.
So I wanted to keep everything intact. I called Brett Ratner and said, ‘I’m walking with a limp, let’s see where I am in six weeks.’”
But, The Rock being The Rock, rehabilitated himself probably five times faster than anyone else would have. Even though the surgery happened just two weeks before the start of principal photography, Ratner believed in his star. Despite delays and a loss of over $6 million, Johnson gradually improved during the four-month shoot.
Not to mention, he had to undergo a strict diet and an unimaginable regime for that body. The results over-compensated the monetary loss. Hercules became a box office hit, fetching a whopping $244 million against a $1 million budget. During the filming, the common joke of the day was, “Hercules has a very strong pelvis.”
Hercules (2014) is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: TheThings
