Dwayne Johnson Interview, Southland Tales

MoviesOnline recently sat down with Dwayne Johnson at the Los Angeles press day for his new movie, "Southland Tales,” an epic story set over the course of three days that culminate in a massive 4th of July celebration during which the city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster.

Directed by Richard Kelly as his follow up to his cult favorite "Donnie Darko,” "Southland Tales” features a large ensemble cast of characters that includes Boxer Santaros (Johnson), an action star stricken with amnesia; Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project; and Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy. The supporting cast includes pop superstar Justin Timberlake, well-known Saturday Night Live alumni Cheri Oteri, Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler and Nora Dunn, actress/singer Mandy Moore, "Night Court” star John Larroquette, and "Clerks” director Kevin Smith.

Since his breakout roles in Universal Pictures’ "The Mummy Returns” and box office powerhouse "The Scorpion King,” Dwayne Johnson has firmly established himself as an enduringly popular film star. Johnson starred in Sony’s gritty drama "Gridiron Gang,” directed by Phil Joanou. He can currently be seen in Disney’s highly successful family comedy "The Game Plan.” He recently wrapped the Warner Bros. comedy, "Get Smart,” set for a summer 2008 release and he has since signed on to star in "Witch Mountain” directed by Andy Fickman which advances from the plot of the 1975 Disney favorite, "Escape to Witch Mountain.”

Dwayne Johnson is a super nice guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his latest movie:

Q: Did you ever think this movie would see the light of day?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I did. I was hoping that one day it would. The very first time I saw it I saw it in Cannes where it was wonderfully received. [lowers voice] That was a joke. [Laughs]

Q: Didn’t it get the lowest rating in Cannes? Do you know why?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I don’t know. It may have. I know that it was a very cold reception that we got at Cannes. I also knew in the movie that I saw, the very long version, that it was not finished edited yet and lacked a lot of the special effects and somewhere in there was a pretty cool movie.

Q: How long was the long version?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Only I think about 15 minutes longer. Richard might be able to answer that better, but it was like 247 [minutes] maybe.

Q: I think he said it was 19 minutes longer.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: 19 minutes longer. Okay.

Q: How did you get involved in this project?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Richard had come to me about 3 years ago and he said, "I have this idea.” Or first, he had spoken to my agent and my agent said, "Are you familiar with Richard Kelly?” I said, "Ironically enough I just saw "Donnie Darko” a couple months ago and enjoyed it. So sure. Send over the script.” He said, "He has this new movie. It’s called ‘Southland Tales.’ He’d like you to see it.” I said, "Great. Send it over.” He said, "Well Richard doesn’t want to send it over. He just wants to meet with you first. He wants to talk with you about it.” [Laughter] I said, "Okay. Let’s go meet.” So we met in Venice and we sat down and it was a very long meeting, but it was great and Richard was great. You could tell just how passionate he was about it and he brought all these visuals for me to look at and these renditions of what the characters would look like. Even in those renditions, they were very rich at that time. And I read the script and I thought, "Wow. That’s really ambitious and something I had never, ever read.” I’d never read anything like that before and I said, "Sure. I’d love to do it.”

Q: There’s a lot going on in this movie. How were you able to make sense of the script so you could decide whether or not to do it?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Well you had to read it again. The very first time I read it through with the character of Boxer, I loved it. I thought, "Oh, what a great challenge. I should have a lot of fun. I enjoyed meeting with Richard.” At that time, Seann William Scott who I’d worked with before in "The Rundown” had already signed on and Sarah Michelle. So I said, "Great. Sure.”

Q: How was it working with Sarah Michelle Gellar? Did you guys have fun?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: We were having a good time. Sure. I think with Sarah, Sarah did great. I think with a role like that, it’s in her best interests to really own it and she did. She went after it and she did a great job and sure, we had a lot of fun.

Q: And there’s a little dancing?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Yeah. The dance at the end was fun. Sure. I thought that was great. You know the music through out was great. We had a great time with that dance.

Q: Now that we’ve seen you dance, will we see you on "Dancing with the Stars” next season?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: [Laughs] Unequivocally not. No.

Q: Who came up with the nervous hand gesture? Is that what you actually do when you’re nervous?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: No, that’s not my thing that I do. Richard, by the way, who obviously is very passionate about his material, still is very encouraging about the collaborative process. I said, "I have this idea. What if he manifests her nervousness through his fingers if his future self is supposed to confront his past self?” Richard said, "Yeah, that’s a great idea.” I was trying to think in truth if I were one of the world’s most recognized faces but yet have no idea of my own celebrity, I thought that would be a challenge. If everybody’s telling you, "You’re the star and you’re married to the Senator’s daughter and you’re this.” It’s like I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Q: This is the first film you’ve dropped "The Rock” from your credit. Can you talk about that and will you be doing that in the future?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Yes. I just made a decision I wanted "Southland Tales” to be the first movie that I was just known as the "The Rock” and moving forward in films I would be billed as Dwayne Johnson. I wanted it to happen naturally. I never wanted to push anything. I just wanted to make it feel natural so it kind of naturally evolved from Dwayne "The Rock” Johnson to now Dwayne Johnson. I never wanted to just cut out "The Rock” entirely at first. I knew eventually I would get there but I just wanted to do it in an easy way if you will.

Q: So you’re going to be Dwayne Johnson from here on out?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Yes.

Q: What if you do "Game Plan 2”?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Then Dwayne Johnson. [Laughs] Same guy.

Q: You’ve done some very eclectic and diverse roles, what is your favorite genre?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I keep getting drawn back to comedy with "Get Smart” and "Witch Mountain” is going to have a lot of comedy.

Q: I’m very anxious to see you in "Witch Mountain.”

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Me too. [Laughs] Andy (Fickman) has been working diligently and we got the script yesterday of course with this writers strike happening. But yeah, that’s going to be great. As far as which genre, I love comedy and I think it’s always something very unique and special. You know when you can make people laugh and feel good, that’s great. Also too, I’ve been really fortunate to go from genre to genre and find a little bit of success in them which has really been nice.

Q: You do well in all of them.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Thank you. I’ve been fortunate. Decent material.

Q: Do you read speculative fiction or science fiction? Are you interested in that genre?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Am I interested in it? Yeah, if it moves me, yes, of course, then I’m interested. This particular script moved me. Richard diving into his mind I thought was always fascinating. You know when I first read the script, it was much like the movie where it should be repeat viewing because out of it you’re going to get… every time you watch it I think you might get something new. But when I read the script, I loved it and Richard who is fascinated in his approach to science fiction and I think Philip K. Dick is his big inspiration and Mickey Spillane I think is another guy. When you talk to Richard, he’s a great guy, very passionate, and he borders brilliance and insanity.

Q: What appealed to you about your character? I think this is one of the first films where your physicality is not brought into it and you’re not hitting people. Was that an appeal of the role?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: [Laughs] Well no, not necessarily that physicality wasn’t a part of it. An appeal of the role was the challenges that it presented me. I had never had the opportunity to play a character like this where there is so much going on. He has multiple personalities. He’s a paranoid schizophrenic but yet he perceives the future. There’s a lot happening so I was intrigued by that challenge and I also thought it was important too because it came from Richard and it was his material and it came from here and here [points to heart and head], from him. It was important to me to stay very close to him because there are just questions that I could never answer. I would go back to Richard, "Didn’t you say that he goes…?” "I did say that then, but it’s different now.” I said, "Okay. But I do trust you.” [Laughs]

Q: The graphic novel sets some things up such as your character being able to see into the past. Were there favorite things you did that were cut out of the film that you hope to see on the DVD?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: No, I gotta be honest with you. Everything I pretty much did is in the movie which is nice. If not, that’s when I would have gone back to physicality with Richard. [Laughs] "You cut my stuff!” [Laughter] No, it’s all there.

Q: So the missing 19 minutes has nothing to do with Boxer?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: A couple of little things but I mean nothing that I could remember that wouldn’t further the story or wouldn’t help anybody understand more of this story.

Q: How does working with Richard Kelly compare with other directors you’ve worked with?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Well that’s a good question. I think all directors bring different qualities to the table and we’re on a different set for every single one of them and their approach is always different. I guess it’s much like actors. Richard is different in the sense that he’s constantly being intellectually analytical about a lot of things and especially about his material. He’s very passionate about his material and he’s very specific too.

Q: Does he give you room?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Oh, a lot of room. Yeah, he does. He’s very protective of his material but again he’s still very encouraging about being collaborative and I think that comes through trust which I thought, getting back to my earlier point, getting close with Richard, establishing that trust and establishing that relationship and those lines of communication I think allow for a little bit more freedom where he would then just let me go and do this or talk in different tones if I were… There’s that interesting scene on the beach where I had a fan approach me [laughs] and she was telling me to go seek Muriel Fox and she said some other things. That was interesting. And then in that scene we decided for me to then change into his alter ego, Jericho Kane and talk differently and then suggest the room for Shutters because Shutters was right there. He was like, "You like Shutters?” And I said, "I love Shutters.” "Then go ahead and say it!” [Laughs]

Q: Was it hard to keep track of your character and his alter ego?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: With Richard’s help, no, because if it made sense to him…. "Does it make sense that we would hear from Jericho Cane here?” He’d say, "Yeah” or he would say, "No.”

Q: What was the atmosphere like on set?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: It was loose, but the atmosphere on set kept everybody on their toes because with all the eclectic actors involved, nobody was coming from a place of money, and nobody was inspired to work for dollars on this movie as much as they wanted to all work together and work with Richard especially. It all came down to working with Richard. He kept a great set. Everybody was kept on their toes just in terms of trying to follow the story and follow the different characters and how they all interacted and Seann playing two characters too as well and I have Mandy (Moore) as my wife and Sarah as my girlfriend. A lot happening so…

Q: Did you guys ever get together and compare notes about what you thought was going on in the movie?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: [Laughs] Every day. No, no, we never did. I remember our very first scene. The very first scene I shot, I shot with Mandy which was great. I really enjoyed her. Mandy had said, "Do you know what’s going on with this entire script?” and I said, "Well, with the entire script I don’t know. But what I can tell you is in our scene here, when I tell you that the world’s gonna end, I’m going to mean it. When we kiss, we’re going to mean it.” [Laughs]

Q: When we were on set two years ago, we asked Sarah, "Does this make any sense to you?” and she said, "All I know is my part and my role.” Was that your approach as well?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Similar. Same thing. With Seann, because our characters were very meaningful to the story, we spent a lot more time together. I saw Seann and Richard just for particular scenes too that we did together but Sarah’s outlook was probably the same sentiment shared by a lot of the actors: I know what I’m doing here and I trust Richard with the overall product.

Q: Have you ever had to deal with a hysterical fan making the particular request that the woman on the beach in the film does?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: [Laughs] I’ve gotten that request a couple times. They were all nice guys though. [Laughter] No, I’m kidding. Where’s my publicist now? [Laughs] Yeah, I have but no, never that graphic or anything like that or inappropriate. I think there’s different levels of excitement that I get from fans.

Q: Your character deals with it very well in terms of diffusing the situation. Do you tend to walk away or do you try to calm the person down?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: No, I certainly try to calm the person down. I mean it happened the other day when [laughs] No, not walking away, it’s very flattering and usually everybody is just very nice. You know some people get emotional out of being happy and excited, and they just, you know, all these emotions just start happening and I try and diffuse it and make them feel good.

Q: Do you find that your fans are different now from when you were wrestling?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Sure. That’s a good question. Back in the days when I was wrestling, those fans were not necessarily more passionate because fans are passionate either way I think, but I think with television and being on television, we’re doing 4 hours of television every week and it’s a lot. It’s more intimate I think when somebody is on television so I got approached a lot more just constantly regardless of whether I was with family or whatever I was doing. Now I don’t get approached as often. They just stand back. [Laughs]

Q: Do you have a pet project that you’re developing that you would like to do someday?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I would love to. Yes. It’s a project called "King Kamehameha,” the story of the King of Hawaii. It’s with Sony and it’s still there and we talk about it every once and awhile, about the right timing, and I’m sure it’ll get done one day.

Q: How would you describe "Southland Tales”?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Well, when I first read "Southland Tales,” I thought it was a dark comedy and I still think of it as a dark comedy. It’s been described as a lot of things – sci fi, a little bit of musical, a little bit of thriller, and a lot of things. And it is a lot of things. I would describe it as a dark comedy about the end of the world and how we here in Los Angeles would react. I’ve always felt that "Southland Tales” is a love letter to Los Angeles. Richard loves L.A. and loves the fact that we are the cornerstone for pop culture and everything comes out of Los Angeles. He also wanted to show the seedy underbelly too of L.A. I would say it’s a comedy. I think it’s funny. [Laughs] I think the characters are funny, the dialogue is funny and at times ridiculous, but I think when the ridiculous dialogue is said with sincerity, that type of intention makes it even more funny.

Q: How was it shooting in Venice, on the Santa Monica Pier and in the Marina? Did that pose any difficulties for production or for you and your character?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: It was great. It was really, really entertaining and I thought that we can’t just shut down Venice Beach. That was the thing. So we were shooting and there were a lot of people so it was always very alive. A lot of times on set – you guys have all been on set -- sometimes there’s not a great deal of energy, things could be brought down a little bit, but no, everything was alive. We’re outside and we knew we were making a unique movie for not a lot of money and I was very impressed too by the way with the final product because it looks a lot more expensive that I think $14 or $15 million, whatever the budget was.

Q: Did you have any interaction with the CGI shots?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: At the end? No, I think that was just Seann. You know it was the infamous levitating ice cream truck that we kept hearing about. It’s like "It’s $500,000, I think.” "Really? Okay!” [Laughs] "We’re looking for that.” The whole process I thought was interesting too with what you’re getting..

Q: Are there scenes that you had to go back and re-shoot after Cannes?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: No, nothing that I did. You know I thought Cannes posed great challenges to this from the very first time we were received how people reacted to the movie. The thing that was made very clear to me – Richard may have a different answer – is we have to explain more, in more detail, through the narration I think and through editing so that people could follow the movie a little better.

Q: And Justin has more to say.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Yeah. Lots.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about "Southland Tales” and your work on it that nobody has asked you?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: No, I thought your questions were great. The truth is I had a lot of fun making this and I signed on for the challenge of it and I signed on to work with Richard. I love working with Richard. I’d gladly work with him again. And for people who find the movie, I believe they’re going to enjoy it. And either way, I think it’s going to cause a reaction in people. Either they’re going to love it or they’re going to hate it and that’s fine and that’s what art is.

Q: Have they approached you already for "Game Plan 2” since the first one has been so successful?

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Right. It was successful. [Laughs] We started talking about it but who knows by that time.

Q: You gotta be fast.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: I know. [Laughs] As soon as you guys roll up.

Q: Thank you.

DWAYNE JOHNSON: Thank you, guys. Have a good day.

"Southland Tales” opens in theaters on November 9th.