‘S**t, we got caught’: Dwayne Johnson comes clean about his suspiciously god-like muscles seen on leaked ‘Moana’ set pics

Did the leaked Moana set pics leave you wondering if The Rock is hitting the gym 2x lately? Well, it seems not because the secret’s out.

There wasn’t much debate on whether Dwayne Johnson is a good fit to play the live-action Maui because who else would they cast? Hercules isn’t around anymore and Hulk retired years ago. But even though Johnson’s years of wrestling helped him come close to the god-like physique of an actual demigod Maui, he still wasn’t an exact match for the character’s bulk. So what did he do?

In a recent interview promoting Moana 2 on Extra TV, Johnson revealed that he had to get a little help from bodysuits to portray Maui’s muscles precisely in the live-action remake of Moana. Though he says that he and Maui share a lot in common, “we’re both egotistical, loud, big mouth,” Johnson revealed that his grandfather “inspired the character of Maui.” Speaking on how close Moana’s story hits, he said,

“My daughters, all three of my daughters were there. That was the first time we’d all been together in a public place before. That was beautiful. My mom was there. It’s our culture. I grew up here, got in trouble here 15 miles up the road. My grandfather’s buried here. My grandfather inspired the character of Maui… It all came together.”

While Johnson had no problems getting into the psyche of Maui, “I have a handle on who Maui is. I know the voice, I know the man, I know his inspiration. I can access things. I got it,” he said that the experience was still “eye-opening” for him.

“The moment I stepped on set, Terri, as live-action Maui, I realized right away, ‘Oh, wow, this is different,’ in terms of this is real flesh-and-blood and skin-and-bones. It becomes real all of a sudden. It was almost like getting in my grandfather’s skin and what that was like.”

And we all know that he’s getting into the character pretty perfectly, as seen in the recently leaked set pictures. But when the reporter asked him whether Johnson had put on extra muscles for the role, his eyes widened and he cracked up, “I’m so happy you said ‘You bulked up,’ because when you say, ‘You bulked up,’ that means you couldn’t tell.”

In reality, it took Johnson a good couple of hours every day to put on a bodysuit of Maui’s muscles and his famous tattoos. However, he was counting on the truth to not be out until the film’s release given how discreet the filming has been.

“We shot outside and when those pictures surfaced, I was like, ‘Sh*t, we got caught, ’cause we were putting up, like, walls so there was no paparazzi. But they got into boats and started shooting pictures. But, I’m happy you liked it.”

So, this settles a long debate that has been around since the leaked set photos of Johnson surfaced earlier in November. And we now also know how much struggle went behind getting the photos. So, thank you to whoever took the risk of boating around to get a snap of Johnson’s bare chest, which wasn’t a bare chest at all.