Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Celebrates Being Black And Samoan At MTV Movie & TV Awards
Feelin' really inspired after @TheRock 's speech!! #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/haVKwxgRwx
— MTV (@MTV) June 18, 2019
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson accepted the Generation Award at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards, telling fans that “the most powerful thing that we can be is ourselves.”
“When I first got to Hollywood, they didn’t know what to do with me,” said the actor in his speech during the Monday night airing of the show, just after thanking the “strong women” he has in his family and his fans for their support.
“I made a choice. I was not going to conform to Hollywood. Hollywood was going to conform to me,” he added.
Johnson went on to say that he’s “proudly half black and half Samoan.”
“It’s important that you are your most authentic self,” he added “I’m a walking example of that.”
The 47-year-old was introduced with dancers performing the haka ― a ceremonial dance or challenge in Māori culture ― to Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
.@TheRock just combined his two cultures on the #MTVAwards stage and it was 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥@MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/Y3QZ2URxnd
— GIPHY Identity (@GIPHYIdentity) June 18, 2019
Johnson ended his speech by saying that a lesson he learned at the age of 15 has stuck with him ever since: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
Now THAT is how you accept an award!!
Congratulations to our Generation Award Honoree, @TheRock! 🔥 #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/CpylXpuGD5— MTV (@MTV) June 18, 2019
The “Ballers” star told MTV in a video posted to the network’s Twitter account, filmed just before he accepted the award, that it was “amazing” to get the award and that he was so “honored.”
“What a privilege it is,” he said before walking on stage.
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I SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKIN' and it's an epic #MTVAwards entrance!! 👀 @therock pic.twitter.com/56HVHp2CMx
— MTV (@MTV) June 18, 2019
Well said, and congrats, Dwayne!
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.