Wrestlling super-star turned celebrity, Dwayne 'The Rock" Johnson, elbowed Robert Downey Jr. and claimed the spot of the highest-paid actor in the world. Starting out with only $7, "The Rock" rose to earning $64.5 million.
Johnson more than doubled what he earned last 2015 which is attributed to the advance payments garnered from "Central Intelligence", the hit summer comedy he starred in with Kevin Hart, the upcoming installment "Fast and the Furious 8" and the film adaptation of "Baywatch." In its annual ranking of the highest paid actors, Forbes revealed that the actor made $64.5 million, enough to steal the title away from Downey who has held the title of the highest-paid actor for three consecutive years.
Johnson told Forbes back in 2012 "I can kick ass better than anyone on the planet, and I have a decent smile."
This year, Johnson proved his statement correct. The actor revealed in a tweet that he started out with only $7 bucks. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he shared that he was only 14 when he and his mother returned to Hawaii, only to find out that they had been evicted from their home. At that time, his father was only making a trifling sum as a wrestler so he decided to build up his own body. He was able to gain a full NFL scholarship to the University of Miami, but he wasn't able to compete in the NFL due to the injuries he obtained during workouts and practice.
Johnson signed on for CFL's Calgary Stampeders where he was relegated to the practice team and given only $250 a week. Eventually, he was cut off. He returned to Tampa only to look into his pocket and find $7 to his name. It was during this point that he trained with his father to become a professional wrestler and started building his name in the World Wrestling Federation.
He told the same source that his aspirations greater, "What do I want?" he says. "I want the world."
Now, aside from getting major deals on hit movies such as the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, he is currently an executive producer and star of "Ballers" in HBO. He also voices several video games like "WWE 2K15" and "John Cena: The Greatest Rivalries," plus having a huge presence in social media sites.
Currently, Johnson is in the works for the sequel of "Jumanji" slated for release on 2017.
