The Rock calls Vancouver "one of my favourite cities in the world", offers advice for us mere mortals

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      Professional wrestler turned actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in town filming his upcoming action flick Skyscraper, and being the all-around good guy he is, took to Instagram last night (August 9) to share his love for Vancouver and some sage words for fans.

      “Just gotta show you guys this view,” Johnson, sporting a pair of aviators, said as he turned his camera phone toward the Vancouver skyline from a high-above balcony. “It is spectacular of one of my favourite cities in the world, Vancouver, Canada.”

      With a thick cloud of wildfire smoke hovering ominously above the water, the scene Johnson captures isn’t exactly the best, which makes the star’s compliment all the more earnest. But it’s the small tidbit from his past that he shares after that really wins him the likability points.

      “Look, I’ve dropped my blood and sweat in this city, wrestled multiple matches in this city, shot big movies in this city,” he added. “But one thing that a lot of people don’t know that I wanna share with you guys is that, when I was 22 years old, I came to this city for the first time. I was playing in the Canadian Football League, playing my first pro football game. I was playing for the Calgary Stampeders; we were playing the BC Lions.

      “I was so excited. Two days later, I got cut,” he continued with a chuckle. “So dreams shattered, sent home with seven bucks in my pocket. I was like, ‘Wait, no! I’ve gotta play in the NFL eventually! Those are my big goals; that’s my dream!’ ”

      Followers of the Rock will likely know how this story ends: “You realize that playing in the NFL was the best thing that never happened because it got me here,” he concluded. “So my point is, look, you’re gonna get your ass kicked, we’re gonna get the shit kicked out of us.

      “You gotta get up, you gotta have faith that the one thing you wanted to happen oftentimes is the best thing that never happened. So have faith and just keep that in mind and keep plugging away.”

      Well said, Johnson. Well said.

      The Rock is expected to be in and out Vancouver until November to film SkyscraperAccording to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is set in China and is about “a disaster atop the world’s largest building”.

      In an Instagram post from March, Johnson described his character as “a disabled US War Vet and former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader” who is “inspired by the thousands of disabled US veterans and war heroes I've had the honor of shaking hands with over the years.”

      It’s slated to be released in summer 2018.

       

      BREAKING: Grateful to share this big news. Universal Studios and @Legendary Pictures have declared JULY 13th 2018 SKYSCRAPER weekend. Massive scale of a movie we've been developing for almost two years and we start shooting this August - in CHINA. Our script, written and to be directed by Rawson Thurber, focuses on the world's largest skyscraper - that's on fire. A towering inferno almost a mile into the sky and my wife and kids are trapped on the top floor. My character is a disabled US War Vet and former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader. This character is inspired by the thousands of disabled US veterans and war heroes I've had the honor of shaking hands with over the years. This character is also an homage to the every day man and woman who, despite all odds, will dig deep and do everything possible to protect and save their family. Research for this film has been a real education for me (and that's saying a lot considering my horrible freshman year GPA) from meeting with the world's top skyscraper architects to spending amazing time with our US combat and disabled vets. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights. But at 4,000ft it's a different story. Let's get to work. #CHINA #SevenBucksProds #FlynnPicturesCo #Zhao #SKYSCRAPER JULY 13th 2018

      A post shared by therock (@therock) on Mar 15, 2017 at 12:51pm PDT

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