Dwayne ’The Rock’ Johnson has spoken out about the homophobic attitudes of “influential folks” in Hollywood in response to him playing a gay character.
Johnson made the comments during an Interview with former Out editor Jeffrey R Epstein as the pair discussed Johnson’s cover and interview in the magazine in 2005 to promote his crime-comedy film Be Cool.
Johnson, who played an openly gay man named Eliot in the film, was one of his earliest film appearances.
“I was told back then (by a few influential folks) that playing a gay man would ‘ruin my career.’”
“I said, ‘hold my tequila and f**k off.’ Nicely, of course.”
Despite the warnings after his role in Be Cool, Johnson would later star in a wide range of best-selling films, including Gridiron Gang, the Fast & Furious franchise, Jungle Cruise, Skyscraper, Hercules, Baywatch, and Black Adam, to name a few.
