The Rock Gets His First TV Show

I decided to write about Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in our Celebrity 100 issue not just because he’s a charismatic action star with a penchant for saving franchises. Johnson is also a smart businessman who understands that in today’s entertainment industry, it’s no longer enough to do one thing really well. You have to build a brand and a business.

Johnson is doing that with his latest venture: a reality TV show on TNT called The Hero. The show, which will premier next summer, will feature ten ordinary people living in a house and carrying out various “missions” to “test their brains, their brawn and even their mortality.”

Johnson will appear on the show as as mentor and motivator. It’s a role familiar to his many fans. On Twitter, Johnson is constantly encouraging his 3.3 million followers to push themselves with the TeamBringIt hastag and tweets like “Pay your dues, stay grindin’ and flat out bust your ass daily to achieve success — no two ways about it.”  The show will also have a social media component allowing viewers to vote on who should win each week. The Hero is being co-produced by Johnson’s ex-wfe and producing partner, Danny Garcia, and Ben Silverman’s Electus.

If the show is a success, it will accelerate Johnson’s rise in Hollywood. The wrestler earned an estimated $36 million between May 2011 and May 2012. For more on Johnson you can read my Celebrity 100 profile of the star here.


(forbes.com)