FAST
CHAT THE ROCK
[Newsday]

Lewis Beale

March 13, 2005

Can you smell what The Rock is cooking these days? A real acting career.

In “Be Cool,” the wrestler turned movie star has decided to do a lot

more than simply flex his muscles, flash that dazzling smile and throw down
against some bad guys. This time out, The Rock, 32, is playing Elliot, a gay
Samoan bodyguard who likes tight pants and country music and auditions for an
acting job by performing the female parts in a scene from the cheerleading
flick “Bring It On.”

This is about as far from “The Scorpion King” as you can possibly
get. We sent freelance writer Lewis Beale to find out what’s going on in The
Rock’s head these days

So now that you’ve done it, tell me, how do you channel your inner homosexual?

Do you have a good mom? Do you have a good relationship with your mom? That
always helps. It helps if you have a good, strong female presence in your life
that you can become in tune with. And do you like board games? I have no idea
why I said that.

No, really. I heard you based the role on Pat Patterson, a longtime gay friend
who helped you with your wrestling career.

With a character like this, you have to start from scratch. So my
interpretation of it is I can only go with what I can relate to, that I can
identify with. So the positive gay influence has been Pat Patterson – very
strong, very steadfast, very honest, proudly gay. And he had gone through
years of –, being in a very closed-minded business against homosexuals. So
for that I admire him.

It’s obvious you’re willing to tackle more than just action roles. Which means
you’ve had to take acting lessons. What’s been the toughest thing for you to
learn as an actor?

Bringing everything down in terms of expressions, and reacting to things. In
the world I came from, I saw the ring as my stage, performing 360 degrees. But
it’s very big, and way over the top – you have to perform for the person waaay
up top. So getting into film, that was the one thing that stood out. So, No.
1, I have such a big head anyway … on-screen it’s like, wow! And I have a
big face, and it’s expressive. Bring all that down. Tone all that down.

What’s your fantasy role? A part you wish you could have played?

My favorite movie is “Cool Hand Luke.” I just think Paul Newman in
that movie is such a relatable guy. Not the biggest guy or the toughest guy,
but he had that intestinal fortitude, that way about him.

Now that you’re not wrestling anymore, I was wondering, what was your worst
day in the ring?

My very first Wrestlemania, Chicago. I was Intercontinental Champion , new in
the business, not even in one year. Going out in the middle of the ring during
my match, and I was a baby face at that time, I was a good guy. Being in the
middle of the ring and having 20,000 people chant “Rocky –!”
Strong. That was the worst day, because you’d worked so hard, and I thought,
“There’s something clearly wrong here,” and that was the beginning
of the end of Rocky the good guy.

Speaking of being a good guy, I’m assuming that being a father (his daughter,
Simone, is 3) has altered your perception of the world.

I became more selfless. I grew up an only child, with never much. We were
always on the road, apartment to apartment, paycheck to paycheck. So whenever
I would get something, it was mine, and I would make sure it was mine. I
didn’t want anybody else to have it. Having the baby just opens up things,
puts things in perspective. That, and when I had my daughter, that’s when I
realized, “Oh, now I get it, now I understand that circle of life,”
so to speak. Now I understand why my mom would do anything just to keep me on
the phone and just hear about nothing. Now I understand.

You’ve also been with wife Dany since 1990. How have you managed such a solid
relationship?

The most important thing is having clarity. Making sure we’re clear with our
objective in our relationship and what we want to do. What has helped is
trust, and not going for the same brass ring. She’s in finance, she has her
hedge fund . She’s not sitting home waiting for me.

I’ve heard your politics described as conservative but socially liberal. How
does that work out?

I am conservative in making sure that the country is protected. I believe in
the president and the staff wholeheartedly. I also think that, of course, you
can be gay and marry who you want to marry, and it’s completely up to you. I
think that’s where I’m liberal. It comes from the way I grew up, very
open-minded.

So does that mean that in the ring, conservatives can kick liberal butt?

In the ring. Outside the ring. In the park. Outside the park. (He laughs.)