FANFLASH: So You Think You Can Act, Dwayne Johnson?

This week we introduced Fanflash to bring you original articles for your reading pleasure. Today, our contributing writer, Andy Adair, has created a profile of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Andy asks the question: Do you think you can act? Check out if the Rock has what it takes to continue as a professional actor.

By Andy Adair
March 13, 2009

Got his start: In college, Dwayne Johnson was a defensive end for the University of Miami.  His senior season, he hurt his back, forcing him to leave his dreams of the NFL and pursue a career in Canada playing for the CFL (Canadian Football League).  After 3 years there, he began his career in professional wrestling, first with the USWA and then later with the WWE.  After a long career in wrestling, Dwayne finally broke into the movie business with a small role in 2001′s The Mummy Returns.  In 2002, he was the star of The Scorpion King.  From that point on, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been tearing through Hollywood, being credited in over 9 films since then.

Where he is at now: Race To Witch Mountain hits theaters this Friday, and his roles for the future include the Tooth Fairy in, that’s right, The Tooth Fairy.

Can he act? In his debut in The Mummy Returns, he was terrible.  It was more of a bad CGI rendering of him that we saw the most.  However, after that, in his films like Scorpion King, Walking Tall, and even the Disney film The Gameplan, Dwayne Johnson showed his chops (minus his role in Be Cool, which was awful).  He does a good job of getting the audience involved (an attribute I believe he received from his years in wrestling), as well as making you care about his character.  In the areas where most other wrestlers turned actor (i.e. Stone Cold, etc. whom I will explore later) tend to fail, I find that The Rock does in fact succeed.

Verdict: YES! Dwayne Johnson CAN ACT!  What do you think?  Is Dwayne Johnson an actor, or a fraud?