It’s official:Dwayne “The Rock” Johnsonis a once-in-a-generation talent!
While accepting the award, Johnson reminisced on his early days in Hollywood and how he was often told he would have to change himself in order to be accepted.
“When I first got to Hollywood, Hollywood — they didn’t know what the hell to do with me,” he told the audience. “I was this half-black, half-Samoan, 6 foot 4, 275-pound wrestler.”
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
“I was told at that time, you’ve gotta be a certain way. You’ve gotta drop some weight, you’ve gotta be somebody different, you’ve gotta stop working out, stop doing the things that I love, you’ve gotta stop calling yourself ‘The Rock,'” he recalled.
Continuing, the actor admitted, “For years, I actually bought into it because you think, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m supposed to do.'”
It wasn’t until he realized how “miserable” he was that Johnson decided to be his “authentic self.”
RELATED VIDEO:American Ninja WarriorsThink Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson andTom CruiseCould Beat the Obstacle Course
“I was miserable doing that, so I made a choice. The choice was I wasn’t gonna conform to Hollywood, Hollywood was gonna conform to me,” he explained. “What you saw up here tonight, that’s who I am. I’m proudly half-black and half-Samoan, and I wanted to bring those cultures up here for the world to see.”
The actor thanked the fans and his family — “I’ve got a house full of strong-ass women,” he proudly declared — before finishing with one last tidbit of advice.
“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice,” he recalled of his favorite quote from the time he was 15 years old. Johnson also stressed the importance of being compassionate, inclusive and good to people, “because that matters.”
“That’s when you become powerful, that’s when you become intellectual,” he added. “That’s when you can have real global influence in a positive way.”
Past recipients of the award includeChris Pratt,Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Wahlberg, Sandra Bullock, Jamie Foxx, Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers,Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey and theFast & Furiousfranchise.
Johnson next stars opposite Jason Statham in theFast & FuriousspinoffHobbs & Shaw, out on Aug. 2. His sequel toJumanji, Welcome to the Jungle,opens in December.
source: people.com
