Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has an interview with MoviesOnline in L.A. press day for his new movie, “Get Smart”. The Rock revealed secrets on his current movie Get Smart, How much left on Race to Witch Mountain and his movie after that, the Tooth Fairy.
MoviesOnline: For Get Smart, you’re the successful secret agent here. To get into your mindset for this, did you think of James Bond?
DWAYNE JOHNSON: A little bit. I thought of James Bond. I also thought, well, here’s a guy, a pretty successful guy at what he does and yet he has a dark side. For me, my process for all my movies is to just get really close with the director and just make sure we’re on the same page, we share the same vision for the movie, the same tone. And you know, it was a character I was excited to play. And physically too. When I first started thinking about the character, how all our characters came together, the thought of Steve Carell and myself side by side is just funny, and it made me laugh from the get go. And then it was funny on the page and I thought well, we had a pretty good shot of making a good movie. Or a funny movie.
MoviesOnline: What was it like kissing Steve Carell?
DWAYNE JOHNSON: It was like, you ever have warm apple pie with cold ice cream too, and you find that balance where you’re oh, uhhh [laughter]. Um. Hey, you know, it was great, it was great. Not too many men can say that, have a nice big lip lock with Steve Carell. It was great. The length I go, the committed actor. Jack Gyllenhaal did it, Will Smith did it. I thought it was my turn to kiss a man.
MoviesOnline: I know you’re a big fan of self-deprecating humor, so this was obviously a chance to do that, with bumping into the wall and kissing Steve. How did you approach scenes like that and is that something you get to do in the Witch Mountain movie also?
DWAYNE JOHNSON: Approaching scenes like that, well, I love self-deprecating comedy. It’s my favorite kind of comedy, and I think that if there’s ways that we can do that and inject that in some of these movies, like those two scenes you mentioned, that’s great. In the Witch Mountain movie, sure, there’s a lot of self-deprecating comedy as well, and I think if I can strike a balance between finding some arrogance with the characters, regardless of whether he’s successful or doesn’t have much, like in Witch Mountain, a cab driver in Las Vegas, but still try to find a balance of a guy who has a little bit of arrogance yet it’s not offensive, and he’s a little endearing and he can be funny–I always try and find that balance where we can.
MoviesOnline: Can you talk about shooting that final fight scene on the railroad tracks with the truck and how much of that was you and Steve?
DWAYNE JOHNSON: Well, it was all me and it was Steve’s double. You know, that was, again, the length I go as an actor. Some guys just don’t want to commit themselves, but, no, that was a lot of fun to do, and I think with a movie like this, everybody was so excited to come together and actually do the action. And Steve, you know, those guys are committed actors. Steve and Anne Hathaway, and they did a lot of their own stunts. I think they might have done most of their own stunts. And it was great to do. You get a director who really wants to put together some great action, we had a great stunt coordinator too, as well, and then I think when you have all those elements coming together, and again, you know, I talked earlier about everybody sharing the same vision for the movie, just in terms of the action I think is important too, because there are some great action movies out there that have raised the bar, and I always talk about them. From the Bond movies, the last Bond movie to the Bourne series, was tremendous. And especially the summer, this is a pretty good summer with some pretty good, high quality action stuff, so you want to make some action sequences that compete.
MoviesOnline: Could you talk specifically about that fight scene and what you had to do? I know you do so much of your own stunts.
DWAYNE JOHNSON: I do all my own stunts. I’m kidding.
MoviesOnline: Was there any point where it was too much–maybe just take us through it.
DWAYNE JOHNSON: Um…no, because I felt very safe and comfortable in the environment with the stunt coordinator and his team of people around us making sure everything was safe. But you know, that was really a great stunt, and if you’re into stunts and physicality like that as an actor, you look for days like that. We’re on a railroad track and we were going 50, 60 miles an hour. We were harnessed into the SUV, and you know, having our fight scene as the car’s going that fast, not only is it challenging, but again I think the key with that is to make sure that the actors feel safe and comfortable. And with the stunt coordinator we had and his team, everybody felt very safe and again we were harnessed in, buckled, we really weren’t going anywhere, and then you lay out the fight scene and you rehearse it a little while and you get on that camera car and go.
MoviesOnline: There still is a logistical challenge of a different kind when you’re fighting in a confined space, isn’t there?
DWAYNE JOHNSON: Sure. Well the challenge is you’re on a moving vehicle, number one. Are you talking about on top of it? Well sure, the vehicle is moving at a really high speed, so you want to be careful, and at the same time, you just want to make sure the action is rooted in reality and everything you play, you want to make sure that it’s played in a realistic way, and at some point too, you always want to find the balance of making people smile and making them laugh as well.
MoviesOnline: Did you have a chance to either meet or speak with Buck Henry and/or Mel Brooks? And also, did you watch the TV show when you were a kid?
(more…)
