The Rock and a hard place

It takes a certain level of faith to get through the pain of seeing your sporting dreams slip from your grasp, only to reinvent yourself as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. To then leave the ring and conquer Hollywood – well, it seems only Dwayne Johnson could manage that with such endearing panache and effortless cool.

But if it hadn’t been for Johnson’s incredible strength of spirit, things could have turned out very different for The Rock – the People’s Champion who became the film industry’s undisputed leading man.

Who’s the biggest male star in Hollywood right now? Brad Pitt; George Clooney; Johnny Depp? Think again. The answer to that question must surely be Dwayne Johnson, and that’s not just because he’s six foot five and has arms like tree trunks. No, the man who made his name as one of the most iconic WWE wrestlers of all time is now worth a staggering $64m a year – and that means he ranks higher than any of those silver screen stalwarts, no matter...