Published Mar 16, 2021

Actor and Athlete Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Recalls Hard Times in His Youth: ‘It’s How We Respond to Struggle that Defines Us’

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A Motivator

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 48, shared an inspiring Instagram post that can resonate with cancer survivors: To pick yourself back up again.
The box office star is a third generation pro-wrestler, and got his nickname by combining both his father and grandfather’s wrestling names. His father was Rocky Johnson and his grandfather was High Chief Peter Maivia. Johnson initially made his 1996 wrestling debut as Rocky Maivia.
It is important for people living with cancer to strive for resilience, and SurvivorNet TV’s film Resilience can help lift you up and motivate you to overcome your physical and emotional challenges.

Dwayne Johnson, 48, long known as ‘The Rock,’ is an actor, athlete, and overall highly motivational person with infectious energy and a constant smile. He’s one of the most “likable” entertainers out there, and has faced his own challenges with health injuries.

The former professional wrestler debuted his new show Young Rock last month on NBC based on his life as a college footballer, and shared an inspiring post to promote tonight’s new episode.

“When I arrived at THE U we were the defending NATIONAL CHAMPION,” he writes of his younger self showing up at the University of Miami to play football. “And even as a fanny pack, turtle neck wearing freshman – I was moving the crowd – on and off the field. Til I suffered a very bad injury that ended my season before I could even get started. (I tore everything in my shoulder and required a complete reconstruction).”

“My ass was kicked and I was down,” he continues. “But it was up to me to decide whether or not I was gonna get back up. We all go thru it and we're not strangers to the rain, but it's how we respond to struggle that defines us.”

This is a powerful reminder for people going through cancer especially, who may feel defeated and physically or emotionally broken down every single day, but need to pick themselves up.

The NBC show features actors Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu, who each play Dwayne Johnson at various ages – 10, 15 and 18 years old. The actual Rock, plays himself.

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“The fun thing about ‘Young Rock’ is everything that people see in this first episode and throughout the season, everything happened,” Johnson said in an interview with USA TODAY. “Now, what we do is, maybe it happened in a different year, maybe it happened in a different city.”

Johnson, one of America’s highest paid actors, got his nickname from a combination of his dad and grandfather’s names. They were both professional wrestlers; his father was Rocky Johnson and his grandfather was High Chief Peter Maivia. Johnson initially made his 1996 wrestling debut as Rocky Maivia.

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Striving For Resilience

SurvivorNetTV's film Resilient is a story of Jerad Fischer, Lindsey Runkel, and Dan Soller warriors who refused to let injuries get in the ways of their dreams.

All dedicated mountain bike riders, with injuries like losing a leg and becoming paralyzed, they use the motivation from those injuries to keep pushing themselves while hitting the trails. Your life, goals, and passions don't need to change after an injury, or cancer.

SurvivorNetTV Presents: Resilient Learning to Overcome

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.