Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
Dwayne Johnson recently opened up about how he lost 15 of his friends to addiction and suicide. He also revealed that his latest movie is a “love letter” to all those who “made it to the other side, and those who didn’t.”
Dwayne Johnson talks about addiction
On Thursday, December 18, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spoke about the personal losses and dedicated his movie, The Smashing Machine, to them. “Over the past two decades, I lost exactly 15 friends to addiction and suicide who just couldn’t handle the pressure,” the Jumanji star told Variety.
The Fast Five actor continued, “In a way, The Smashing Machine was a love letter to the men and women who struggled, who made it on the other side, and who didn’t make it to the other side. So, The Smashing Machine became more than a film, you know.”
This isn’t the first time Johnson has opened up about traumatic experiences. In 2016, he revealed that his mother, Ata Johnson, attempted suicide when he was about 15 years old.
He explained how his parents got into a huge fight at a restaurant, which later continued while driving on an interstate. After stopping on the side, his mother tried to walk into oncoming traffic. “My mom gets out of the car, and when she got out of the car, I’ll never forget it, she had a glazed look over her eyes I had never seen before, “Johnson explained.
He continued, “She walked right into the middle of I-65 and continues to walk down into oncoming traffic, and my heart stopped. I got our car, and I grabbed her and wrestled her over to the side of the road.” He added, “The irony is, my mom has no idea that it even happened. That’s the irony, and that’s also the beauty of it—she does not remember anything. Thank God, ‘cause it’s too traumatic to remember.”
