“The strongest of people need help,” Johnson tells EW.
Dwayne Johnson and by extension, hisMoanacharacter, demi-god Maui looks strong enough to handle anything.
But sometimes the strongest thing a person can do is ask for help.
Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) in ‘Moana 2’.Disney
If he can swallow his pride and do it.
“It puts us automatically in that position of vulnerability.
Disney
“This guy is a demi-god,” Johnson continues.
Dwayne Johnson at the 2024 D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif.Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
“He can do whatever he wants, have whatever he wants, live the life.
But it’s all stripped away in this one moment.
It’s something that Johnson has personally experienced.
Maui in ‘Moana 2’.Disney
“I carried that with me for a very long time.
It served me in the worlds that I was in football and then professional wrestling.”
Johnson says that mentality continued well into his acting career.
You have to look a certain way.
You’re too big.
You have to look like these particular guys who are leading men.
Don’t call yourself ‘The Rock.’
Don’t do this.
Say it like this,'” he recalls.
I started to realize, ‘Oh, this is depression.
I need to open up.
I need to talk to somebody.
I need to completely mentally and emotionally recalibrate.’
The end of that road was not going to be a good one.”
An unfortunate reality for a “handful” of his friends over the past decade.
“They decided to check out,” he reveals.
“It was too much for them, and they didn’t seek the help that they could have.
They didn’t see it in front of them even though it was there.
When it feels like you’re in the muck of it, you’re not alone.”
Johnson’s realization changed his life, finding power in asking for help.
“It’s okay to be vulnerable.
It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you stronger,” he says.
Here’s my chest.
I’ll gladly rip it open to someone who can help me.'"
It’s why Maui’s story inMoana 2is so important and personal to him.
“The idea of asking for help is a superpower.
It’s like a ball that you’re holding underwater.
Eventually, you’ve got to let the ball go, and it’s going to explode.”
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ButMoana 2is not some tale of Maui’s dark night of the soul.
“We want to teach these lessons to our little ones,” he reflects.
“We want to find a way to talk about this with them.
Because even the strongest of people need help.
