The Rock Has Manhandled and Smiled His Way to Become Forbes’ World Highest Paid Actor in 2016
When I think of Dwayne Johnson, I think back to those years I spent in my friend Steve’s blue-carpeted, smoked-stained bedroom forced to watch every YouTube video of The Rock in existence at the time. I can tell you with confidence that I can recite upwards of 50% of the Rock’s lines from his SNL skits and these numbers are growing due to the fact that I still revisit those videos in times of panic and nostalgia withdraw.
When I think of Dwayne Johnson, I don’t think of the highest-paid actor in the world. That must be Matthew McConaughey or Brad Pitt or Mark Wahlberg or Leonardo DiCaprio or Will Smith or Tom Cruise or you know the reigning highest-paid actor three years running, Robert Downey Jr.
But the Samoan hunk of love beats all of them out by millions. On Forbes’ list of the World’s High Paid Actors in 2016, Johnson sits at number 1 with $64,500,000 earned, that’s over $3 million more than the number 2 actor, Jackie Chan with $61,000,000.
And it’s even more impressive when you think of the fact that according to Variety, nearly all of his money comes from his role in the Fast and Furious franchise, the ever-forgettable San Andreas and my personal favorite panic-attack quelling show of all time, Ballers. Last year, Johnson ranked number 11 with $31 million. That son of a bitch more than doubled his earnings. Dwayne responded with a tweet:
Want to say two things about this.
I started w/ $7 bucks. If I can overcome, so can you.
Waffle House on me!!😂🙌🏾 https://t.co/r3UeQYaLmT
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 25, 2016
I’m caught somewhere between being too rich for J.Cole’s “all I got is a dollar and a dream” but still being too poor for starting my path to success with the Rock’s whole $7.
