During a Facebook live stream, Dwayne Johnson opened up about losing out on the chance to play the role of Jack Reacher, the protagonist of Lee Child’s bestselling book series, and a role that would ultimately go to Tom Cruise in 2012.
“In Hollywood, actors are kind of like in-a-box. There are actors that can vie for a particular role because it allows for them to have a certain look, skin color, size, etc. Fortunately, for me, there aren’t a lot of guys at all who look like me. So, all of my roles, from the beginning of my career, I’ve been a lucky son of a bitch that they’ve been created and designed for me — except Jack Reacher,” said Dwayne Johnson
Johnson would go on to explain, “Now, this was ten years ago, and I was in a much different place, I recognize that Tom was the biggest movie star in the world, and I was not.”
Johnson, the wrestler-turned-actor, felt in many ways he was perfect for the part. The physical attributes line-up as they share similar heights and weights, 6′ 4″, and 280 lbs. Also, Johnson said both him and the Jack Reacher role were ‘bad dudes.’
“I got the call saying ‘Hey, you didn’t get the role’ Look, I didn’t even know if I had a shot for it, but the people around me at that time made me think that I did. I felt like I did, I felt like ‘Why not me?'” he continued in his Facebook video.
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