Dwayne Johnson is a movie star. Used to be a Wrestler, but now is a bona fide movie star. Previously known as The Rock, he dropped that moniker recently in a bid, I'm guessing, for more credibilty. I have been a fan of The Rock for quite a while. Iused to think of him as a guilty pleasure as he would smash and charm his way through countless bad guys. Nowadays I do not feel guilty about this pleasure at all. His films are great fun and he is genuinely charming in all of them. I thought he was great in Southland Tales (one of my favourite recent films). So when we had the opportunity to meet the man himself we literally jumped at the chance.
The day starts auspiciously enough with a train trip to London to visit Disney's Hammersmith HQ. On the way we discuss what cool photos we could take and if there was a single funny thing we could say to him that he hadnt heard a million times before. We decided there wasn't. I want a photo of Dwayne getting me in a headlock and also want him to sign my Southland Tales comic. I ask Graham how many Dwayne movies he can name. He manages 3....not a real fan!
We arrive at Disney HQ, which if you are a Disney fan is simply Awesome! Down to the details of Mickey shaped bannisters on the stairs, original artwork from The Rescuers, The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins. Its a great place to visit. After a brief coffee we start with some upcoming Disney trailers and then into a preview of 'Race to Witch Mountain'. I really enjoyed the film and thought kids would love it.
We all jump on a coach and head over to a posh hotel in Kensington to meet the man himself. The main word amongst the crowd is 'Don't call him the Rock' although no-one officially says this. He is such a man mountain that it wouldnt be wise to annoy him! There are 50 of us in total including a group from Blackpool who have bought a present of a stick of Rock - Brave bunch!
We move into a nice function room and are divided into small groups for photos. Dwayne is doing interviews with BBC Radio upstairs and will be down shortly........
And here he is! Not as big as you'd expect - nobody ever is! But he gives us a small speech to thank us for promoting Witch Mountain. He comes across really friendly and polite so everybody is at ease. As a bonus we also get to meet the films director Andy Fickman. He has directed 2 films with Dwayne, compared with my zero - this makes him better in Director Top Trumps.
Dwayne jumps in for photos as we all shuffle around shaking hands and smiling for the camera. Nobody attempts to say anything funny as he is actually quite big when you get close up! I didnt get the chance to get my book signed which was a bit sad but I look happy as larry in the picture.
And then like that, it's all over. Very much a flying visit as todays celebs are always busy. They say goodbye and thank us again. And they are gone. Graham said I looked so upset clutching my unsigned book that he grabbed it off me and went chasing Dwayne down the street! "Dwayne" Graham makes his way through security with me egging him on to get the book signed. I rather sheepishly get held back by security.
That makes me sound like a wimp but this was a guy who is security for The Rock! Think about that for one minute. The guy was huuuge.
Anyway Graham returned victorious. I was a happy bunny and off we went back to Brighton.
Such a great experience - Thanks again to Disney for hosting the event and looking after us for the day.
George Clooney next please.
See ya later.
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