Revenge or senseless move? Dwayne Johnson rejected lead role in multi-billion franchise

Although Dwayne Johnson is no short of successful film franchises to his credit, the list could’ve been longer had he not turned down Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers’ for a film which failed to get a sequel.

Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time and an equally successful actor in Hollywood, Johnson debuted in the realm, by playing his own father Rocky Johnson in ‘The Wrestling Show’ in 1999.

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He made his film debut in ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001) before landing a lead role in ‘The Scorpion King’ the following year.

However one of the many talents that he owned and which was widely overlooked among his charismatic presence on screen, is his distinctive voice quality which once got him a brief role in the animated ‘Transformers’ series, to voice Cliffjumper in the pilot episode. Despite his stellar performance as the character, he had a limited presence in the series, as the shocking turn of events led to the tragic demise of Cliffjumper at the hand of Starscream.

From the brief voice role in the animated children’s series, Johnson was offered the lead role of  Cade Yeager in the next ‘Transformers’ film ‘Age of Extinction’, just a few years later. However, in a surprising move termed ‘revenge’ by many, The Rock turned down the offer to play the coveted role, citing his commitment to the 2014 movie ‘Hercules’ as the main reason.

The role eventually went to his ‘Pain & Gain’ co-star Mark Wahlberg, but his commitment and integrity as an actor were lauded.

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