Dwayne Johnson Wants to Go Back to 7-Eleven in Hawaii and Pay for All the Snickers He Stole (Exclusive)
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The superstar — and one of PEOPLE’s 50th cover stars — says mother Ata’s love was ‘boundless,’ even when she was picking him up from the police station
Since Dwayne Johnson became one of the most bankable names in Hollywood, he’s been able to give his mother Ata everything she deserves, from a new home to a 75th birthday Samoan balloon salute.
But the WWE legend and Black Adam star remembers a time when he mostly gave her grief.
“My mom has always been there, always my biggest fan, even when I was a punk kid in high school, getting in trouble, getting arrested,” the 51-year-old Johnson tells PEOPLE in this week’s 50th Anniversary issue. “She would always say, ‘I feel like the world will hear from you one day.’ And this is as she’s picking me up from the police station!”
“The love was boundless; the support was boundless,” he adds. “And [still] today she's my biggest fan.”
Johnson opened up in his 2016 Sexiest Man Alive feature that, in his teen years in Hawaii, he was “unsure of who [he] was and who [he] wanted to be,” and that while he was always respectful of his teachers and elders, he did get into hot water for fighting and petty theft.
That trouble — and his mother’s unwavering support — taught Johnson valuable lessons about discipline and self-control, and if given the chance, he says he’d have a heart-to-heart talk with Young Rock.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“I’d tell that kid to take it easy,” he says. “I used to get angry. I got frustrated, there were things [about my situation] I didn’t understand, so I’d go to the gym. Because it made me feel like I had some accountability, like I could change my life. The men I looked up to were all physical guys who got s--- done. So I’d tell my younger self, “Go to the gym, it’s all right. But don’t let that [aggression] inform all your decisions.”
JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images
Dwayne Johnson and mother Ata at the world premiere of "Jumanji: The Next Level" on December 9, 2019.Related: Dwayne Johnson Makes 'Historic Donation' to SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund amid Ongoing Strike
“And listen,” he adds, laughing. “You’re stealing Snickers every single day before the gym. One day, you’re not going to be an ass---. Go back to the 7-Eleven in Hawaii and buy all the Snickers. Pay for them. Then leave them for other people to come in and [enjoy].”
These days, Johnson still indulges his sweet tooth — his Sunday cheat meals are legendary — but it’s safe to assume all the food has been paid for.
For more from PEOPLE's 50th anniversary, pick up this week's issue, on newsstands now.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
