Dwayne Johnson Reveals He Wore Bodysuit for Live-Action ‘Moana’ (Exclusive)

It was a Hawaiian homecoming for Hollywood’s Eight Hundred Million Dollar Man, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson!

“Extra’s” Terri Seymour spoke with Dwayne in Oahu, Hawaii, where he was promoting the Disney sequel “Moana 2.”

He reflected on having a full-circle moment at the premiere, “My daughters, all three of my daughters were there. That was the first time we’d all been together in a public place before. That was beautiful. My mom was there. It’s our culture. I grew up here, got in trouble here 15 miles up the road. My grandfather’s buried here. My grandfather inspired the character of Maui… It all came together.”

In the movie, Johnson returns as demigod Maui, who shares some similarities to him in real-life. He joked that they are both “egotistical, loud, big mouth.”

In all seriousness, he said, “I think, trying to find joy around every corner, even if things are a little screwy or wobbly, maybe in real life. So, I’ve had a tendency over the years to not sweep it under the carpet but just, I know funky sh*t is going on and I’m dealing with it, but let me try and find a place over here where I can be happy or smile or try and access some happy and joy. I find myself doing that. It helps me deal with the not-joyous stuff.”

Dwayne is also playing the character in the live adaptation of “Moana,” which is filming now.

He shared that the experience was “eye-opening,” explaining, “I have a handle on who Maui is. I know the voice, I know the man, I know his inspiration. I can access things. I got it.”

He continued, “The moment I stepped on set, Terri, as live-action Maui, I realized right away, ‘Oh, wow, this is different,’ in terms of this is real flesh-and-blood and skin-and-bones. It becomes real all of the sudden. It was almost like getting in my grandfather’s skin and what that was like.”

 As for the recent buffed-up photos of him as the character, Dwayne revealed that he was actually wearing a suit!

He shared, “That’s a suit that took a long time to put on. So, I’m so happy you said, ‘You bulked up,’ because when you say, ‘You bulked up,’ that means you couldn’t tell.”

He added, “That is a couple of hours every day of transforming, putting that on. We shot outside and when those pictures surfaced, I was like, ‘Sh*t, we got caught, ’cause we were putting up, like, walls so there was no paparazzi. But they got into boats and started shooting pictures. So, but I’m happy you liked it. I can’t wait. The movie comes out in 2026.”

Everyone is loving the movie’s new signature song “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?,” including his young daughters Jasmine and Tiana, who play “Moana-Be’s” in the movie.

When Terri called his daughters sweet and funny after chatting with them at the premiere, Dwayne quipped, “I don’t know where they get their sense of humor from.”

Dwayne shared that the morning after the premiere, he told them how proud he was of how they handled doing the interviews with him.

He recalled, “I was really impressed with them… We were eating breakfast, I said, ‘Hey, I want to’ — pulled them off their iPads for a second — I said, ‘I was really impressed with how you guys answered questions, like, clear, and you weren’t, like, nervous.’ I said, ‘I was really impressed.’ And I told them, I said, ‘You know, there’s a lot of people out there who, they have to, like, go to school to do press like that.’ They were like ‘Really?’”

Terri noted that the girls seem to love the camera and laughed, “I wonder where they get that from?”

“Not me,” Dwayne said, before turning to the camera and adding, “Oh, me. Yes, here we go.” 

“Moana 2” is out November 27.