Dwayne Johnson gives insight on ‘incredibly tough’ relationship with late father

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson will be revealing his relationship with his late father Rocky Johnson to the world in a new series called Young Rock.

In the series, the star will be shedding light on his “complicated” relationship with his father, who passed away last year at 75.

Speaking on People, he shared that the show would largely keep a light heartened tone when giving insight on his formative years however, he admitted that it wasn’t easy to delve into.

“I thought, well, let’s not take the easy route,” he said.

“But it was incredibly complicated and it was incredibly tough. Growing up, and you know we specifically went with these timelines in my life that were very defining times at 10 years old, 15 and 18 … there’s a lot of things in between those years that took place … but it was complicated and the relationship that I had with my dad was incredibly complicated — that was fueled by tough love,” he said.

Those complications were due to his father’s own unconventional upbringing, which saw Rocky out of his house at 13.

“My dad was kicked out of his house at 13 and he was homeless, so that then shaped the man who then raised me,” the star said.

Speaking of the show, Jumanji star shared that he was very pleased with the way it turned out and how his father would have been happy with his work.

“My dad died one year ago this month last year, he died suddenly, and he’s obviously featured throughout the show and Joseph, he did a tremendous job playing my dad.”

“And, you know, to showcase it like this, and to showcase it through the lens of something that’s positive and know what it meant, a lot to my dad because a lot of times the world of pro wrestling isn’t always looked at through that lens in a positive way. There’s a lot of positive stuff that we could take out of this,” he said.