In the lead-up to the release of Dwayne Johnson's upcoming movie Red One, The Rock met a ton of fans in London this week, and it amounted to a really sweet moment between him and a young fan. The WWE pro turned Hollywood star has been getting ready for the Red One's release on the 2024 movie schedule by promoting it around the world, and when a 13-year-old boy cried when they met, Johnson shared why he was “really moved” by the interaction.
Dwayne Johnson met a ton of young fans on Wednesday alongside his Red One co-stars Chris Evans, Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons. Check out what happened while he met with fans and signed posters:
The Rock had 13-year-old Ricky in tears when he came up to him and struck up a conversation. Ricky told Johnson he’s a professional actor too, which had him suggesting one day they can work together. The actor gave him a hug, but that wasn’t the end of the interaction. Later, he grabbed J.K. Simmons to meet Ricky too! The boy got even more emotional as he spoke to Simmons about his love for his work in Spider-Man and Whiplash. In response, Simmons quipped that his latest role as a ripped Santa Claus is “a much nicer guy.”
The adorable moment not only made it onto Dwayne Johnson’s Instagram, and the actor also shared that the interaction meant a lot to him. In his words:
I’m always really moved when young boys cry in front of me. Stops me in my tracks because, us boys never want to be emotional in front of people, let alone cry in front of grown men we look up to. It’s in our DNA to hide emotions, so I’m proud of this kid — keeping his composure, keeping his sense of humor, keeping his manners - all while fighting back his tears 🥹 Very cool to meet you, Ricky and keep working hard young man. See you at the top one day. And big shout to my ‘big brother’, JK Simmons for coming over to make this kid’s day. You’re a legend. One day, we’ll all be working for Ricky in Hollywood 😉🤜🏾🤛🏼
Wow, what a sweet sentiment. It’s so true that men specifically are generally taught to hide their emotions. So, it’s so refreshing to see a young man let out how he’s feeling in front of a hero of his and be accepted in the presence of The Rock.
Ricky certainly touched Johnson and he did the boy a solid by coming back around to allow him to meet another one of his heroes, J.K. Simmons. I imagine it's very validating to not only have this kind of interaction but to also be uplifted by folks who are so successful.
Dwayne Johnson recently spoke about challenging masculinity as well while talking about what’s next for Maui in Moana 2. The Rock said he feels “asking for help is actually a superpower” and that message will be present in the upcoming sequel. Before we hear Johnson in the next Moana movie, though, you can check out the actor in Red One, which hits theaters on November 15. You can check out our Red One review here on CinemaBlend.
