Dwayne Johnson has led a star-studded career in almost every field he has stepped in — be it sports, entertainment, or business. But that success didn’t save him from getting into an incredibly humiliating moment while meeting one of those brilliant actors he most admired and wanted to meet while growing up. This actor was none other than the late beloved legend, Robin Williams.
Luckily enough for him, even before joining the sequel of William’s widely-celebrated Jumanji film from 1995, Johnson managed to run into the iconic comedian for the very first time in his life. But that first meet was so nerve-wracking for the WWE hunk that it eventually ended up as an embarrassing moment for The Rock, with him even terming it “a disaster!”
Dwayne Johnson’s First Meet with Robin Williams was “A Disaster”
Yes, Johnson had an idol too when he transformed from a wrestler to an actor, and this idol was Hollywood’s very own favorite Robin Williams. This happened years ago at a CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, where both the actors happened to be backstage at the same time.
As he shared the story in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, after looming around awkwardly:
“I finally see him and catch his eye, and I’m like, ‘Hey, I just want to say, you are my biggest fan,’” Johnson said.
Ouch, that must have been truly embarrassing, no doubt. Hilariously enough, this was followed by a confused pause before Dwayne Johnson realized that what he had said to him was actually the opposite of what he wanted to say to Williams.
Revealing what happened next, the Jumanji: The Next Generation star said:
“I was like, ‘Ah, s—! I meant the opposite!’ And he just laughed and said, ‘It’s so good to meet you,’ and gave me a big hug. So that was it. I made an idiot out of myself when I first met Robin.”
Needless to say, as comedic as this incident was, the late Williams still made sure to make the situation as pleasant for his younger fan as ever. And perhaps that was what further instilled much more respect in The Rock for him, that he even claimed nobody could fill in for Williams!
Appreciation for Robin Williams Made Jumanji “Nerve-Wracking” for Dwayne Johnson
Fans already know that more than 2 decades after Williams’ iconic film from 1995, Johnson starred as one of the protagonists in the sequel to that masterpiece, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. But the feeling of carrying on the late actor’s legacy was nothing short of “nerve-wracking” for him.
As the Hercules star continued to share in the interview:
“It was pretty nerve-wracking at first because there’s such a tremendous amount of love and reverence that people have for Robin. Anything you touch of his can be very polarizing at first.”
Thus, he decided to term his film as a sequel to the original classic Jumanji instead of letting fans feel like they were trying to fill in the Good Will Hunting actor‘s shoes — which, he claimed, was “impossible to do” anyway.
According to what Dwayne Johnson said:
“I felt like the best thing that I could do for our movie was to try to get out in front of any narrative and let everybody know that we’re making this as a continuation. We cannot fill Robin Williams’ shoes. That’s impossible to do.”
Perhaps this very key factor was what genuinely contributed to the sequel’s tremendous success among both critics and general audiences alike!
Watch Jumanji (1995) on Prime Video and Welcome to the Jungle (2017) on Hulu.