The Rock On How His Wrestling Career Helped With Black Adam, Recalls Heel Turn

The Rock’s Black Adam hits movie theaters this week, and the WWE star-turned-actor discussed how his WWE career helped him embody the character. The Rock spoke with the New York Times for a new interview and you can check out some highlights below:

On his time as a heel in WWE helping him embody Black Adam: “It really did, yeah. Even in the wild, unpredictable world of professional wrestling, there was a great benefit in playing a heel. I became, at that time, the best and greatest heel the company had going. That Attitude Era, I call it a very special time in the world of pro wrestling. The company wasn’t publicly traded, so we flew under the radar. And some of the things — many of the things — that we were able to get away with, we’d be in big trouble these days. But that time as a heel really did teach me that you could do anything — as long as your reason why is relatable.”

On learning to accept that his role as a heel was to be booed: “Before I became a great bad guy, I came in as the babyface [the good guy]. I was told, “You can’t smile enough.” Vince McMahon told me that. “You have to go out there and be grateful to be here.” I was booed in every arena across the country. So I did have to withstand that kind of vitriol. By the time I did turn heel, I couldn’t have opened my arms wider to get them boos, to come in and embrace them.”