Dwayne Johnson doesn't mind if you want to call him The Rock
Jumanji: The Next Level hero Dwayne Johnson has discussed the transition of altering his professional name since making it in Hollywood.
Catching up with Digital Spy and other media recently, the 47-year-old chronicled his shifting mentality towards the moniker he's best known for: 'The Rock', and how he's happy for people to call him pretty much whatever they like.
Related: Jumanji's Dwayne Johnson thinks they're "bananas" to compete against Star Wars
"When I finally realised that I wanted to have a real career in Hollywood and hopefully – fingers crossed – have an opportunity to have real longevity, I did feel that I wanted to be known as my name, Dwayne Johnson and I also felt that it was just going to take time," he explained.
"So I felt like I was not in a rush and I knew that it was going to take time and I didn't want the transition to be disruptive in any way and come out and say for example, make a statement and say from this day forward, I will be known as Dwayne Johnson only, you can't refer to me as The Rock, I never wanted to do that."
Johnson further reflected: "I was very proud of The Rock and what I was able to accomplish in this wild and crazy world of professional wrestling. And it's a cool name, (laughs) so I didn't have a problem with it."
After breaking away from the "rules of Hollywood" in terms of his name, Johnson also felt no pressure to worry about his size or where he came from.
The star added: "I realised, well there's no rules and there's no rules about if somebody wants to call me The Rock, they call me The Rock, or refer to me as that or Dwayne Johnson.
"I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to buy into whatever the rules were at that time. And then if I failed, at least I failed knowing that I can sleep better at night that I did in a way that felt good for me."
Jumanji: The Next Level is out in UK cinemas on December 11 and US cinemas on December 13, with previews in UK cinemas on December 7 and 8.
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