How Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson became the people's movie star

What's the formula for reaching the top of Hollywood in 2015? A series of memorable performances and an uncanny knack for social media.

Dwayne Johnson
(Image credit: Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Warner Bros./AP Images)

This is a big year for Dwayne Johnson, the wrestler-turned-actor formerly best-known as "The Rock." San Andreas, a disaster blockbuster in which he stars, arrives in theaters on Friday. Ballers — an HBO series in which Johnson serves as both executive producer and star — premieres in June. Furious 7, which stars Johnson in a supporting role, was the biggest movie of the year by a massive margin — until the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

But don't feel too bad about a superhero blockbuster taking Johnson's number-one box-office slot; he'll make his own, long-discussed superhero blockbuster debut in Shazam!, which is part of DC Comics' big plan to establish its own Avengers-style universe. Johnson is so perfectly suited to the superhero genre that he was actually offered his choice of two starring roles in Shazam! — the titular superhero or his antiheroic adversary, Black Adam. Johnson chose Black Adam, reasoning that the role was "inherently more interesting."

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.