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The Rock continues to tease potential future presidential run

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Feb 18, 2021 12:13 PM ET

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson always has something cooking.

The 48-year-old actor, businessman and former professional wrestler enjoyed the debut of NBC's Young Rock on Tuesday night, and five million viewers tuned in to watch the 30-minute comedy portray his formative experiences at 10, 15 and 18-to-20 years old. Johnson's role in the series is as himself, narrating his past through interviews during a hypothetical 2032 presidential campaign. According to a recent conversation with USA Today's Erin Jensen, that premise may not be totally fictional.

"I would consider a presidential run in the future if that's what the people wanted," Johnson said. "Truly, I mean that, and I'm not flippant in any way with my answer. That would be up to the people. ... So, I would wait, and I would listen. I would have my finger on the pulse, my ear to the ground."

Johnson previously legitimized rumors that he had interest in one day becoming President of the United States while visiting The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote adventure comedy film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in December 2017:

The topic was also a theme of a May 2017 GQ cover story, in which The Rock told writer Caity Weaver that "it's a real possibility" he could "give up his life as the highest-paid movie star on earth ... in order to run for office."

At least for now, Johnson will settle for having Young Rock off to a hot start in addition to seven other projects (seven!) in post-production.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

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