D23 Announces 2026 Disney Legends Award Honorees Spotlighting the Stars, Storytellers, and Leaders Behind Disney’s Enduring Legacy
Dwayne Johnson
In a profession outlined by breaking stereotypes, Dwayne Johnson started by rewriting a well-worn cliché. For him, necessity was the mom of reinvention. After a nomadic childhood marked by financial insecurity, Dwayne was right down to his final $7. At 23, he had simply seen his dream of enjoying skilled soccer slip away. Rather than retreat, Dwayne threw himself into the first of a collection of daring transformations. Over his father’s objections (however together with his mom’s blessing), Dwayne plunged headlong into skilled wrestling. He emerged as the hottest and profitable wrestler of all time. Dwayne risked that success by reinventing himself as soon as extra as an actor and, over the years, ultimately turning into the highest-paid main man in Hollywood. He adopted that by increasing into producing movie, TV, and digital programming via the resonantly named Seven Bucks Productions. In addition, Dwayne wrote a memoir that turned a New York Times No. 1 bestseller and has channeled his different, diversified passions into a spread of philanthropic and entrepreneurial endeavors. Dwayne’s most seen transformation got here in a career-redefining portrayal of UFC fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine the first solo directing effort by Benny Safdie. Outwardly reworking into Kerr was arduous, involving greater than 20 prosthetics and taking 4 hours per day (the movie acquired an Academy Award nomination for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling). Dwayne’s inside transformation was a revelation, as his efficiency earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama. Next up, Dwayne will reunite with Safdie, reworking once more into an eccentric septuagenarian named Chicken Man in Lizard Musicprimarily based on Daniel Pinkwater’s beloved, surreal youngsters’s novel. Then Dwayne will collaborate with the legendary Martin Scorsese, who’s directing the adaptation of Dwayne’s true-crime guide (co-written with acclaimed writer Nick Bilton) about Hawaiian mob boss Wilford “Nappy” Pulawa. Dwayne will star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt, and may also produce the movie with Blunt. In addition, Dwayne is starring in Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky’s untitled psychological thriller with A24. Dwayne made his movie debut in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, landed his first main position in The Scorpion King the following 12 months, and hasn’t seemed again, grossing greater than $15 billion globally, making him considered one of the high 5 box-office stars of all time. Along the method, Dwayne has revived blockbusters—jump-starting the Fast & Furious franchise in 2011 and rebooting Jumanji in 2017 with two sequels—and launched its personal. Dwayne voiced the demigod Maui in Disney’s Academy Award-nominated animated movie Moanathen reprised the position in Moana 2which grossed greater than $1 billion worldwide, and will reinvent the half for the extremely anticipated live-action Moana (in theaters Summer 2026). In all, Dwayne has appeared in additional than 40 movies, together with: The Rundown (2003)Be Cool (2005)Black Adam (2022)Central Intelligence (2016) Fighting with My Family (2019)The Game Plan (2007)Get Smart (2008)Gridiron Gang (2006)Jungle Cruise (2021)Pain and Gain (2013)Red Notice (2021)Red One (2024)San Andreas (2015)Skyscraper (2018)Walking Tall (2004), and Zootopia 2 (2025).
