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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gets to
know newcomer Madison Pettis in
The Game Plan |
Looking at them side by side, it
could be a scene out of Twins, the 1988 comedy
that paired Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as
siblings who couldn’t be more different. But the truth
is, former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson and the short, stocky Andy Fickman, who directs
Johnson in The Game Plan, are kindred spirits
whose body types are just about the only thing they
don’t have in common.
The most endearing trait they share: a wonderful sense
of humor about their working relationship.
“I would say you are only a tyrant director when you’re
working with untalented people like Dwayne,” Fickman
joked with a bright, affectionate smile. “My job is to
provide the studio with anything resembling a film and
they saddle me with baggage like a former wrestler — and
I’m not even sure why he chose ‘former,’ because the
acting thing is not going to pan out.”
“He’s more a dictator than a director,” Johnson shot
back in a sarcastic tone seldom heard by those who are
only familiar with his wrestling persona and action
movies (The Scorpion King). “And he has no
creative vision at all — I think he just likes bossing
people around.”
In The Game Plan, Johnson plays Joe Kingman, an
arrogant all-pro quarterback who learns he has a
daughter (Madison Pettis) from a previous relationship.
Much to the dismay of his avaricious agent (Kyra
Sedgwick) and pet bulldog, and the disruption of his
free-wheelin’ bachelor lifestyle, he gets stuck caring
for the girl during the playoffs. Naturally, she
terrorizes his life and home with a variety of little
girl-isms.
There’s an old adage in Hollywood that actors shouldn’t
work with children or animals, but that didn’t deter
Johnson.
“The dog is a dog; it’s not like he was a lion or
anything,” Johnson said, adding that he was more worried
about his 8-year-old co-star working on her first movie.
“With Madison my only concern was the timing of the
comedy, because so much depends on how well you work
with your partner. But when she got on the set and I saw
she’s smart as a whip, I knew we’d be fine.”
Fickman, who found the young Pettis after conducting a
nationwide search, said he couldn’t be happier with her
performance, though he did have some troubles with the
dog. “I would say I was the one who inherited the
curse,” he said. “But the dog, you know, animals are
animals. It’s the most humbling experience as a director
because he couldn’t care less what you’re saying. He’s
not exactly lying around in the trailer saying ‘I’d
better get ready because I start working in two hours.’
Instead, he’s just lying around, licking himself,
thinking of where he’ll poop next, so it’s always a
challenge.”
While both men credit their own children for readying
them for the movie (Fickman has a 10-year-old son),
Johnson’s 6-year-old daughter had him more than
prepared.
“There was a huge leak at the house one day after one of
the faucets was left on — literally there was three or
four inches of water in the house,” Johnson said. “We
had to pull everything up, all the carpet and furniture,
and it easily caused more than $150,000 worth of damage.
“At first we had no idea how it happened, and I was
blaming a lot of people, but I wasn’t going to blame my
little girl. To her credit, she pulled her mom aside and
told her she left the faucet on. We appreciated the
honesty and thanked her very much for being honest, and
then told her she’s not going to college because daddy
and mommy just spent the tuition money to fix the
house.”
Although Fickman may always see his friend as a brutish
wrestler, Johnson has slowly moved away from his image
as “The Rock” with the success of his acting career in
the last few years. “It’s naturally gone in this
direction without me having to push it,” Johnson said.
“I never wanted to make a statement, but what’s
happening is there’s a whole new generation of kids out
there who never knew I wrestled, so for them it’s a
separate life that they’re not aware of.”
The Game Plan opens in theaters Friday.
