When chatting to fans on Facebook, the 'Jumanji: The Next Level' actor admits that he did wonder why he did not get the part since people around him at the time made him think he had a shot.
- April 14, 2020
AceShowbiz - Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson missed out on the lead role in 2012's "Jack Reacher".
The action man was chatting to fans on Facebook over the weekend when one asked him about parts he'd lost, prompting the former wrestler to reveal he went toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise over the movie adaptation of Lee Child's novels.
"In Hollywood, actors are kind of like in a box," Dwayne said. "There are actors that can vie for a particular role because it allows for them to have a certain look, skin colour, 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 b**ch that they've been created and designed for me - except Jack Reacher."
"Now, this was 10 years ago, and I was in a much different place, I recognise that. Tom was the biggest movie star in the world, and I was not. 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?'"
Cruise went on to play Reacher again in the 2016 sequel, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back", after which author Child revealed he didn't think the movie superstar was well cast as his literary hero - because his Jack Reacher was much taller and much more imposing.
But Johnson isn't complaining - shortly after missing out on "Reacher", Dwayne landed a repeating role in the "Fast and Furious" franchise.
