Formerly known as "The Rock" in the wrestling world, Dwayne Johnson has made huge strides as an actor. After starring in The Scorpion King and The Rundown in 2002 and 2003, Johnson set his sights on making a career as a big screen actor, adding to his Hollywood resume with roles in such films as Walking tall, Be Cool,Doom, Southland Tales, Gridiron Gang, and hugely successful family hit The Game Plan. Now, with his wrestling persona far behind him, Dwayne Johnson joins Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway as Agent 23 in the big screen remake of the classic TV series Get Smart, which hits theatres on June 20.

At the film's press junket in Beverly Hills, Dwayne Johnson sat down with journalists to share his thoughts on everything from what it was like to kiss Steve Carell and the coolest aspect of the old Get Smart TV series to how he's evolved as an actor and the details surrounding his transition from the wrestling world to making films in Hollywood. As well, Johnson also filled us in on how he'll be racing to Witch Mountain in the near future.

For Get Smart, you’re the successful secret agent. So to get into your mindset for this character, did you think of James Bond?

DWAYNE JOHNSON A little bit, I thought of James Bond. I also just thought, "Well, he was a guy who was a pretty successful guy in what he does, but yet he has a dark side." And, you know, for me, my processes for all the movies is just to get really close with the director and just make sure we’re on the same page, we share the same vision for the movie, same tone. And, it was a character that I was excited to play, and physically, too. When I first started thinking about the character - how all of our characters came together, the thought of Steve Carell and myself just side by side, it’s just funny, and it made me laugh from the get-go, and then it was funny on the page. And I thought, "Well, we’ve got a pretty good shot at making a good movie or a funny movie."

What was it like kissing Steve Carell?

JOHNSON [laughs] It was like -- you know, you ever had, like a warm apple pie with that cold ice cream, too? And you find that balance, where you’re like [utters disgusting sound]. Hey, it was great, it was great. Not too many men can say that. I had a nice big lip lock with Steve Carell. It was great. The length I go, the committed actor - Jake Gyllenhaal did it. Will Smith did it. I thought it was my turn to kiss a man [laughs].

I know you’re a big fan of self-deprecating humor. This was obviously a chance to do that. How did you approach scenes like that? Is that something you get to do in the Witch Mountain movie?

JOHNSON Well, approaching scenes like that -- I love self-deprecating comedy. It’s my favorite type of comedy, and I think if there’s ways that we can do that, and in Jack -- in some of these movies like those two particular scenes you mentioned, that’s great. In the ‘Witch Mountain ‘ movie, sure, there’s a lot of self-deprecating comedy too, as well. And I think if I could strike a balance between finding some arrogance with the characters regardless of whether he’s successful or whether he doesn’t have much, like in Witch Mountain, the cab driver in Las Vegas, but still try and find a balance with a guy who has a little bit of arrogance, but yet it’s not offensive. And he was a little endearing, and he could be funny, and he was trying to find that balance where we can.

Talk about shooting the final fight scene. How much of that was you and Steve?

JOHNSON Well, it was all me, and it was Steve’s double. And that was, again, the length I go, as an actor. Some guys just don’t want to commit themselves, but no - that was a lot of fun to do. And I think with a movie like this, that everybody was so excited to -- everybody was so excited to come together and actually do the action, you know. And Steve, those guys are committed actors, Steve and Anne Hathaway, and they did a lot of their own stunts. I think they might’ve done most of their own stunts, and it was great to do. You get a director, who really wants to put together some great action. We had a great stunt coordinator too, as well, and I think when you have all those elements coming together -- and again, I talked earlier about everybody sharing the same vision for the movie, just in terms of the action, is important too because there are some great action movies out there that have raised the bar. And I always talk about them from the Bond movie, the last Bond movie, to the Bourne series was tremendous. This is a pretty good summer with some pretty good, high-quality action stuff. So you want to make some action sequences that compete.

Did you have a chance to meet either Buck Henry or Mel Brooks? Did you watch the TV show, as a kid?

JOHNSON I watched the show, as a kid, and I was a big fan of the show. I didn’t get the chance to meet those gentlemen. I would’ve loved to have met them. I just watched Young Frankenstein the other day, too. [laughs] Werewolf. Wha-- werewolf. What wolf? - And yeah, so I was a big fan of the original, but I didn’t get the chance to meet those guys. And when they first approached me with the idea about - well, when they first said they were going to remake Get Smart and turn it into a movie, I think immediately our reactions are and the natural understanding reaction is like, "Uh, oh. Here we go." You’re messing with something that’s great. You’ve got to be careful. But the material was great. All the elements came together. You know, it was a director who I wanted to work with for some time. I really enjoyed Pete’s work in the past. And Carell, of course, I loved. Then Anne Hathaway came on, and then Alan Arkin signed on, which was wonderful. So it kind of all fell together.

Getting Smart with Dwayne Johnson Page 2