Dwayne Johnson‘s rise to fame has become a double edge sword. On one hand, he’s pretty iconic since he’s starred in a variety of films and received his own Fast & Furious spin-off. But on the other hand, some moviegoers may have some gripes with the actor and will be willing to share them when asked.
One opportunity for moviegoers and Rock fans to share their disappointment was through this one Twitter user, who simply asked why Johnson has “fallen out of favor” over the past few years. People were ready to share their argument as to why Johnson, despite him still being a recognized actor, isn’t as great compared to other actors who started in wrestling, such as Dave Bautista and John Cena.
One common argument that fans pointed out was that Johnson seems to play the same character in every movie that he’s in. One fan even went as far as to share four images of the actor in different movies. And, we’re not going to lie, these screengrabs look very similar. You could somewhat tell what films they’re from; but for the untrained eye, it could be assumed they’re different scenes in one film.
Meanwhile, others argued about the actor’s ego is what has caused him to fall out of vogue. This could be supported by how Johnson supposedly has a clause in his contracts that state he can’t lose in fights. At the same time, it was argued that Johnson isn’t really an actor but more of a brand, hence why he doesn’t want to look bad in films, which kind of makes sense since Disney used him to announce the upcoming Moana live-action adaptation.
While Johnson may be iconic to the point that he’s arguably one of the most recognizable faces in the industry, it can also be argued that the landscape for wrestlers-turned-actors has changed. We have Bautista who opened up his departure from the MCU in hopes to do more serious roles. Meanwhile, Cena has appeared in different movie genres and is willing to be a mermaid in the upcoming Barbie movie.
Compare that to Johnson’s movie credits, which mostly contain a variety of action-adventure films. The only thing unique he’s done was do voice-over work for Taylor Swift‘s music video for ‘The Man.’
Perhaps Johnson needs to take a page out of his wrestling colleagues’ playbook and consider experimenting with other genres for once. Play the bad guy rather than an anti-hero. And showcase your talents as an actor by stepping away from your comfort zone.
