Dwayne Johnson on the Southland Tales script:

“Like the movie, it’s repeat viewing. It was like repeat reading when I read the draft. I will say that when I first read it I loved it. I thought it was great, it was intriguing, it was funny and when asked to explain the movie, I would say to me it’s a comedy. It’s a dark comedy about the end of the world and how people, specifically in Los Angeles, would react.”

Johnson on why he jumped on board:

“For me, it all came down to wanting to work with Richard [Kelly]. I wanted to work with Richard. I thought he was ambitious… before I read the script, I sat down with him, he pitched me the idea, I thought the idea was crazy, and he showed me these great renditions. So I thought, ‘Yeah sure lets work together’’. And I just saw Donnie Darko a couple of months earlier and I thought that was an interesting movie. I just went into it wanting to have fun with Richard.”

On the first time being billed as simply… Dwayne Johnson.

“Well, I never wanted to… and we might have talked about this in the past. But, yes, it is the first time I’m being billed as Dwayne Johnson in a movie, and I’m moving forward now to being billed as just Dwayne Johnson. But I never wanted to force it, I just wanted it to happen naturally and go from “The Rock” character that I created in wrestling to a nickname I had, Dwayne ‘Rock’ Johnson, then eventually I knew that I would get to Dwayne Johnson. Then again, I just wanted it to happen naturally, I didn’t want to force anything.”

Johnson on whether his character mirrors any of his own Hollywood experiences:

“Well, not to a large degree, because you have to keep in mind he has no idea of who he is or what he is. The only thing he really knows is the fact that he’s written a screenplay and he also understands that the world is going to come to an end and it’s going to be here in Los Angeles. I thought he was a very challenging character to play, who had multiple personalities, amnesia, and a wife and girlfriend. Maybe a paranoid schizophrenic actor, and if that’s the case then I tapped into a couple of friends I know.”

Dwayne Johnson Interview Page 2