Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is opening up about how his divorce from ex-wife Dany Garcia shaped both his personal life and career.
During a live recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast at Chapman University, the Smashing Machine star, 53, spoke candidly about the emotional toll of his separation — and how it influenced his decision to take on lighter, family-friendly movie roles in the late 2000s.
Looking back on that period, Johnson said that after initially breaking into action films, he shifted toward PG-rated projects such as The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), and Tooth Fairy (2010).
“The truth is — and I can look back on that time with real clarity these days — those days, things were a little cloudy,” Johnson said. “I loved making those movies. I also think I manifested those because I don’t think I was ready for anything other than easy, light, family films that made me feel good.”
He explained that the shift coincided with his separation from Garcia, whom he married in 1997. The couple welcomed their daughter, Simone, in 2001 before announcing their split in 2007.
“At that time, I was also going through a separation and a divorce,” he told the audience. “When you guys get married, as a few of you may know, you sign up for the long haul, but then it doesn’t always work out like that, and then it rocks you like it rocked me. And we had a baby, and what kind of father was I going to be?”
Johnson continued, “Anyway, I feel like at that time I was really going through it. That was another bout of depression. I was trying to figure my stuff out, and that was the only thing that I really wanted to do artistically; I didn’t want anything that was going to challenge me to rip my guts out, I wanted stuff that has a happy ending, and so that’s what that was.”
When they announced their split in 2007, Johnson and Garcia, now 56, shared a joint statement: “We’ve been fortunate enough to spend the last 17 years together as a couple and look forward to spending the rest our lives together as best