As Hollywood gathered at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., on Saturday night for the MTV Movie & TV Awards to celebrate the night’s honorees — including Trailblazer Award winner Jada Pinkett Smith and Generation Award honoree Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — calls for empowerment and inclusion within the entertainment industry and beyond took center stage.
“When I first got to Hollywood, [they] didn’t know what the hell to do with me: half black, half Samoan,” Johnson said. “I was told at that time, ‘You gotta be a certain way. You gotta drop some weight, you gotta be something different, you gotta stop working out, stop doing the things you love, stop calling yourself ‘The Rock!’”
“So I made a choice. I wasn’t gonna conform to Hollywood; Hollywood was gonna conform to me,” he continued. “This is what I am. I’m proudly half black [and] half Samoan and wanted to...
“When I first got to Hollywood, [they] didn’t know what the hell to do with me: half black, half Samoan,” Johnson said. “I was told at that time, ‘You gotta be a certain way. You gotta drop some weight, you gotta be something different, you gotta stop working out, stop doing the things you love, stop calling yourself ‘The Rock!’”
“So I made a choice. I wasn’t gonna conform to Hollywood; Hollywood was gonna conform to me,” he continued. “This is what I am. I’m proudly half black [and] half Samoan and wanted to...
- 6/18/2019
- by Anna Tingley
- Variety Film + TV
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