Dwayne Johnson says Hobbs and Shaw was 'deeply personal'

15 July 2019

Dwayne Johnson says 'Hobbs & Shaw' was "deeply personal" to him as it showcased his Samoan heritage.

Dwayne Johnson

The 47-year-old actor insisted that the first spinoff movie from the hugely successful 'Fast and the Furious' franchise was "very special" as he is "proudly half black and half Samoan" and the film, which features a large cast of Samoan actors, paid tribute to the Pacific island.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the world premiere of 'Hobbs & Shaw' he said: "This is why this movie is really deeply personal to me, because I am proudly half black and half Samoan, and we were able to showcase one of my cultures in this movie.

"And it was very special because never before has a movie of this size and scale, in the history of Hollywood have we ever showcased this tiny island and this culture of Samoa and I'm very proud of that."

The movie also stars Jason Statham as a former British military elite operative named Shaw who helps hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America's Diplomatic Security Service, to take down a cyber genetically-enhanced anarchist called Brixton (Idris Elba).

Jason, 51, went on to explain that one of the most "significant" part of the movie is the different qualities in the two lead characters.

He said: "It's one of the most fun things you can do. We make action films, and a lot of the time, we never really get the chance to have fun with it.

"There's a lot of things at stake. I think what the most significant part of that is that the characters are so defined, yet they're so separate and different."