Dwayne Johnson isn’t just starring in the next Martin Scorsese film, he’s been co-writing the book it’s set to be based on.
According to a new report in The Guardian, Tooth Fairy star Dwayne Johnson is co-writing the non-fiction book that the upcoming Martin Scorsese Hawaii-set crime caper will be based on.
Working alongside investigative journalist Nick Bilton, Johnson has revealed on social media that he is “super grateful to co-author my next project (a nonfiction book) with award-winning investigative journalist, @NickBilton. Nick and I have worked on this for months now, with many more months of work ahead of us – this has already been such an unbelievable, inspiring and eye-opening experience.”
While Dwayne Johnson certainly wasn’t the first professional wrestler to make the transition from ring to screen, he’s undoubtedly been the most successful. However, after becoming somewhat stuck in middle of the road anodyne projects, the actor seems to be making some serious leftfield moves to shift the trajectory of his career.
His next film will be The Smashing Machine for A24, a film in which he wears facial prosthetics and is almost unrecognisable. The tone for that film is said to be pretty out there too.
Then there’s this upcoming Hawaii-set crime movie with Martin Scorsese which will see Johnson line up against Leonardo DiCaprio. You can’t fault Johnson’s ambition here and given that he brought this project to Scorsese and is now in effect crafting the story behind it, you have to admire the man’s hustle.
Says Johnson about said story: “This isn’t just a gangster story – it’s about power, identity, and what was taken from the Hawaiian people. What drew me to this project wasn’t just the action and the intensity. My own family lived through parts of this era, and I’ve seen first-hand the complicated legacy it left behind. Telling this story is a way to honour our Polynesian culture, and honour where we come from and share the untold history of what really happened in paradise.”
We’d ask where he gets the time to get all this done, but we suppose you really can save precious moments here or there if you never have to visit the loo.
His career is certainly in an interesting place right now and there are a few examples out there – such as 2013’s Pain & Gain – to remind us that Johnson can deliver interesting and absorbing performances when he puts his mind to it. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
