Before the entire planet got to enjoy the blockbuster entertainment that the Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson always manages to bring to the table, it was the Academy Award-nominated actress Rosamund Pike who fully witnessed and experienced firsthand the potential regality of The Rock within the industry.
20 years later, Pike would be affirmed in her founded beliefs about her co-star’s enormous potential in Hollywood when Johnson established himself as not only the most coveted A-lister of today but also the most well-liked celebrity and one of the wealthiest as well due to his numerous business and entrepreneurial ventures.
Dwayne Johnson Leaves an Impression on Rosamund Pike
The early Aughts was not the best time for the genre of video game-to-live-action adaptation. The preceding decade of the ’90s had well-established the inefficacy of the genre by successively dooming every project that sought to crack the code. The 1995 film, Mortal Kombat, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson came very close, proving to be a massive commercial success by earning five times its production budget of $20 million. But even then, the film was criticized for its PG-13 rating and toned-down violence.
The 21st century brought about an ambitious new outlook and approach toward the world of game-to-film adaptations and it was there that The Rock found an opportunity to rise above his relative anonymity and gain a foothold in the movie business. Alongside the talented Rosamund Pike, the pair signed on to star in the 2005 sci-fi film, Doom, adapted from the eponymous video game, which went on to flop hard at the box office and earn an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But that did not essentially mean that the experience was all bad. Pike, for one, vividly remembers not liking the idea of working with the towering, hulked-out, stoic pro-wrestler who had come along to try his hand at acting. Her notions would soon be proved wrong:
“I saw this guy and I thought he was going to take himself incredibly seriously. I thought he was going to be just the kind of man I wouldn’t like. Then he turned out to be someone who doesn’t take himself seriously at all. He’s funny and self-ironizing. He takes a piss at everyone and himself. I like that a lot.”
Decades later, witnessing his rise in Hollywood, she would go on to claim, “Dwayne was right at the beginning of everything – knowing where he was going.” The two stars, although a class apart in their origin and struggle did develop an appreciation for the other’s artistic license, and despite their one doomed box office film, both Pike and Johnson have gone on to succeed elsewhere individually.
Rosamund Pike & Dwayne Johnson: Hollywood Retrospective
The Rock takes a more calculated approach to his growth and presence in the industry, weighing in on how a particular role or movie may add to the brand image viz-a-viz his big-budget, family-friendly, and action thriller filmography. That approach has led to the action star delivering projects like Pain & Gain (2013), Rampage (2018), two successful and well-received Jumanji films, and the Fast & Furious franchise. His upcoming film, Red One, promises to be an ambitious star-studded ensemble production that offers a radically different take on the favorite holiday of the year.
Rosamund Pike, in the meanwhile, has raked in an array of one great role after another. Ranging from the Jane Austen adaptation of Pride & Prejudice (2005) to her Golden Globe-winning role in I Care A Lot (2021) to her fiery, insidious, feminist, unflinching, and Oscar-nominated leading part in Gone Girl (2014), Pike has simply stunned in every vibrant, discursive, and disruptive role she has taken on over the past two decades. Currently, the actress is prepping for the Season 2 premiere of her Amazon series, The Wheel of Time.
Source: Hollywood
