Rock talks to 13th Street!!

Courtesy of 13th Street

Part 1: Mummy A La Rock
By Ian Spelling

Nothing freaks out The Rock.

Muscle-head wrestlers?  Yeah, right.  Tens of thousands of fans rooting for or against him?  Can't hear 'em.  The Mummy?  Please.  "The first time I saw The Mummy I thought that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz and Arnold Vosloo did a wonderful job," says the WWF icon also referred to as The Great One and the The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.  "But I thought it would be a little bit more scary.  I certainly didn't anticipate the comedy.  And the comedy and the special effects were fantastic additions.

"I'd seen bits and pieces of the original Mummy movies.  That was the image I had in my head, the big guy wrapped in tape and bandages and walking around with his arms up in front of him.  That was the old image, so I was expecting a contemporary version of that.  So I was surprised when I saw (Fraser-Weisz version of) The Mummy, but pleasantly surprised."

  Part 2: It's Mummy That Matters
The Rock was surprised as well when the phone rang with an offer him to co-star in The Mummy Returns, the inevitable sequel to the 1999 blockbuster.  The producers wanted him to play a warrior-turned-terror named the Scorpion King and, after reading the script, The Rock signed on, then headed to the Moroccan desert for 10 days of shooting. "My character is introduced in an elaborate way at the beginning of the film," says The Rock, a/k/a 29-year-old, Miami-born Dwayne Johnson.  "The story is told of the Scorpion King. Egyptian mythology says there was such a character, who was the bravest, fiercest warrior to walk the land at that time.  His army was defeated and he made a pact with the god Anubis, that if Anubis granted him one more opportunity to seek revenge on his enemies then he would not only build him a temple of doom, but he would also sell him his soul.  So the Scorpion King is essentially paying the ultimate price and making the ultimate sacrifice for what he thought was doing the right thing.  

"At that time, all the Scorpion King knew was battle.  And the god Anubis granted him that wish, to battle and win one more time.  After the Scorpion King and his army defeated the army that once defeated him, the deity made good on his agreement and he took the Scorpion King's soul and buried him in the sands of Egypt for thousands and thousands of years.

"The Scorpion King had a special bracelet, the Bracelet of Anubis, that he wore while he was fighting.  Now, Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn's (Rachel Weisz) son (Freddie Boath) has found the bracelet and put it on.  And the bracelet takes on a life of its own.  Eventually, at the end of The Mummy Returns, the Scorpion King comes back to take over the entire world as a 15-foot-tall half-man/half-scorpion killer.  The special effects on that are fantastic.  I've seen some early versions of them and ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) has done such a tremendous job, as you might expect.

Part 3: Wrestling With A Prequel
Though felled temporarily by sunstroke while shooting The Mummy Returns, The Rock obviously had a good time on the film and clearly, at least in the eyes of the honchos at Universal Studios, performed well.  Based on the strength of dailies, Universal sealed a multi-million dollar deal with The Rock to star in a film of his own, a prequel entitled – duh – The Scorpion King.  In fact, The Rock is conducting this interview via cell phone from a makeup chair while being readied for a Scorpion King scene, even as others race to put the finishing touches on The Mummy Returns in time its May 4 release.

All in all, not bad for a guy whose only other acting credits – especially if you don't think of wrestling as acting – include That `70s Show, DAG, The Net and Star Trek: Voyager.  Lest any wrestling fanatics out there – and we know you're out there – worry that The Rock, The Brahma Bull, The People's Champion might one day soon forsake the ring for the silver screen, well... you're right to be worried.

"I think it's a question of opportunity," The Rock says.  "When I got involved with the WWF I had my long-term goals as well as my short-term goals.  I've accomplished a lot of those goals, but there are still a lot I will work to accomplish in the WWF.  There's nothing like playing to a live audience, like playing to 20,000 or 30,000 fans.  They're so passionate and taking them on a live emotional roller coaster is a fantastic feeling.

"On the other hand, the film industry is something I've wanted to get involved in for many, many years.  And with The Mummy Returns I saw the opportunity to try it.  The WWF has afforded me a lot of opportunities, too, but different opportunities.  I want to not only get involved in the film industry, I want to do extremely well, God willing.  So if things continue to go as they are, I might eventually have to make a decision.  But one way or another, regardless of the decision I make, in some form or fashion I will always be a part of the WWF."