I don’t know about you, but I’ve read and watched enough celebrity perspectives on fame to know that I don’t envy living life in the public eye. I cannot imagine being recognized and approached by strangers everyday and generally not having my own privacy. There’s something incredibly special about walking around somewhere or sitting on a bench without anyone bothering me that us non-famous people can take for granted. However, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a different perspective on the whole thing I’ve never heard before.
The Rock took to his Instagram this week to answer a common question he gets all the time: What are the benefits and drawbacks to being famous? Here’s what he had to say:
I have been a lucky son of a bitch to have been famous for a long time and I’ve realized there are no drawbacks to fame because I remember how shit once was. Back in the day, the alternative to fame is not being famous and I couldn’t pay the rent. I was struggling to figure out who I was. I was broke as fuck. So, I try my best to keep all of that in the forefront of my mind. I always keep it close because it gives me good perspective, it gives me balance and it also gives me an anchor that I need when this blender of noise can always follow fame. So you always need something – you need a lot of things I feel to anchor you and keeping the tough times and all that hard shit in the forefront of my mind, I never let that go. I always say I’m a day away from being evicted again, so it keeps me hungry.
Dwayne Johnson has sat with fame for over 20 years now, so he has some real solid thoughts on what being a celebrity means to him, and despite his personal life being so public, he only sees positives. In a world where so many famous people talk down what it’s like to be known by the world, I was surprised by his “no drawbacks” answer, but he has some points. Being famous means being comfortable in his life, and let’s tell it for what it is: the guy’s rich.
His Instagram video even takes place in his own home gym that looks massive. If The Rock was just a regular guy he’d have to decide between gym memberships like the rest of us. As Johnson continued:
I’ve got a lot of celebrity friends who completely disagree with me and that’s OK. We’ve had healthy discussions about fame and that’s OK having a difference of opinion. It invites dialogue, it invites discussion.
The actor is so famous, he recently got reimagined by Disney Princesses by A.I., which is objectively odd, but all things considered, he gets to lead a really extraordinary life. Johnson shared his favorite benefit about being famous is “being able to impact people in a positive way around the world” and the “free tacos,” but he did have one grievance. As he shared:
I miss being able to go to the mall, man. I really do. I miss going to the stores, just hopping in my car and just going to the grocery store, drug store, the mall, wherever. All that has gone away years and years ago, so anytime I go it’s a thing, gotta call ahead, logistics, security, so it doesn’t turn into a zoo.
The Rock shared that some days, he’ll get a “wild hair” about him and decide to randomly go to the store at 8pm on a Saturday (or perhaps for one of his Monday night ‘fuck it’ cheat meals), and then once a crowd of people forms, he’ll remember that he just can’t do that like everyone else. It’s pretty wild to imagine having to plan all one’s outings like The Rock does, but it sounds like to him, it’s a small price to pay considering all the benefits of his profession. Here are his full thoughts.
Dwayne Johnson’s DC role may have recently been scrapped, but there’s a lot of upcoming projects from The Rock, between his rumored participation in Wrestlemania 40, to Red One with Chris Evans expected to be among upcoming 2023 movies this holiday season. While he’s rich and famous, we can all boast the simple pleasure of going to the mall and store on a whim, am I right?