Some movies demand their stars to go through the most challenging moments of their lives. Hercules was such a project for Dwayne Johnson who had to endure much for the 2014 movie. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was The Rock’s transformation into the divine Roman hero. The look of Hercules even led Johnson to have one of the strangest things on his face.
The look of Dwayne Johnson in the 2014 Brett Ratner needed fake facial hairs. But the former WWE Wrestler was shocked when he came to know where those fake beards were manufactured. Never in his wildest dreams, did the muscle monster think that he would be forced to put Yak hairs on his face for a project.
What motivated Dwayne Johnson to work with Yak hairs on his face?
Coming around difficult makeup room stories of different celebrities isn’t a new thing in Hollywood. There have been several situations when the actors addressed their difficult makeup routines for their projects. For Dwayne Johnson, Hercules will always remain one of the craziest experiences in his entire career.
Johnson already faced a horde of problems due to his injuries which led to the delay of the movie, he shared that the transformation to the lead character was also a tough job to pull off. When the Black Adam actor spoke in Live! with Kelly and Michael, he shared that he wasn’t aware of the fake beard which was put to his face before getting to know that it was “Yak Testicles”.
“So I asked my Italian designer, ‘Matteo what is this?’ And he goes, ‘Oh, it’s the hair from a yak’. It’s very expensive and very fine hair and I said, ‘Yak?’ And he says, ‘Yes, yak’. And he’s putting it on my face like this [rubs the area around his mouth] and I say, ‘What part?’ And he goes, ‘The testicles'”
As crazy as this may sound, actors do have to go through some of the craziest things for their films. The Red Notice fame had to go through a make-up schedule of more than 3 hours for Hercules. Dwayne Johnson added that it was his commitment to his job that motivated him to work.
“It’s the commitment of which I will go to. It’s a system, it’s a process, it’s an experience. Everyday for five months. Every day, three and a half hours, every day. Three and a half hours every morning. So I would get up at half three and then I would eat and train again, as I had to train twice a day for the role, and then I would go and sit in hair and make up for three and a half hours for the transformation.”
Catch the interview here:
But it was not the only trouble that The Rock faced during the filming of Hercules as the iconic lion headgear is also described as a pain by the 51-year-old.
Hercules came with many more problems for Dwayne Johnson
The Dwayne Johnson movie co-starring Ian McShane, Rebecca Ferguson, and Joseph Fiennes presented the Jumanji fame with a big Lion headgear. If Johnson is to be believed then the headgear caused him to take uncountable retakes as it used to fall down repeatedly during the fight sequences.
“The lion head-dress, while very iconic, was a pain the a**. It was heavy and it didn’t have a chin-strap, so it would fall off during fighting. It was take after take after take. It was a three-hour process every day, and I really only felt like Hercules when they put that last bit of armour on.”
Ultimately, the movie went on to garner mixed reception and a decent box office collection. But some ardent fans of The Rock were surprised to know that the Jungle Cruise actor turned down the Transformers franchise for Hercules. This led the franchise to rope in Mark Wahlberg as the human protagonist.
Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager turned out to be one of the most disappointing characters to the fans. But the news about Dwayne Johnson’s rejection of the franchise also makes us wonder if the story could get a different turn with him in the lead.
Hercules can be streamed on Prime Video.
Source: Live! with Kelly and Michael
