Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock has celebrated his father’s trailblazing career as a black wrestler who “broke color barriers” in the business.

Johnson is known as a light-skinned, Samoan man, which leads to the confusion that he just cast himself as undeniably black-American folk legend John Henry. Read on to get the latest on Dwayne Johnson…

 

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WHEN THE MAN COMES AROUND. Inspired to bring to life one of my childhood heroes, John Henry, in JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN. In this movie, I’ll lead an ensemble of the most popular folklore figures and legends from different cultures around the world. @NETFLIX is the perfect partner & platform to bring these global folklore icons to life. The NETFLIX brand speaks directly to our @sevenbucksprod ethos of being bold, ambitious and game changing – and most importantly, always thinking “Audience first” in homes all around the world. The legend of JOHN HENRY’S strength, endurance, dignity and cultural pride was instilled in my DNA at a very young age. My dad would sing “Big John” to me every time he would put me to bed. At bedtime most children get loving nursery rhyme songs — I got this/ Every mornin’ at the mine, you could see him arrive. He stood 6 foot 6 and weighed 245. Kind of broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip. And everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John. Big John. Big Bad John. Directing this big ol’ tentpole is the talented and passionate, Jake Kasdan. Jake and I found nice success together in a little movie called, JUMANJI. Gonna be a lot of fun bringing these legends to life. My childhood hero. The steel driving man and his disruptive band of international folklore legends. JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN @sevenbucksprod @danygarciaco @hhgarcia41 @flynnpictureco @NETFLIX

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Oct 9, 2018 at 11:50am PDT

CelebNMovies247.com reports that Dwayne Johnson is receiving some heavy criticism for casting himself as a black man.

The Rock took to social media on Wednesday announcing that he has cast himself in the upcoming NETFLIX movie, JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN.

Here is what Dwayne had to say about taking on the role and why he cast himself:

Dwayne Johnson reveals:

WHEN THE MAN COMES AROUND. Inspired to bring to life one of my childhood heroes, John Henry, in JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN. In this movie, I’ll lead an ensemble of the most popular folklore figures and legends from different cultures around the world. @NETFLIX is the perfect partner & platform to bring these global folklore icons to life. The NETFLIX brand speaks directly to our @sevenbucksprod ethos of being bold, ambitious and game-changing – and most importantly, always thinking “Audience first” in homes all around the world.

He adds:

The legend of JOHN HENRY’S strength, endurance, dignity and cultural pride was instilled in my DNA at a very young age. My dad would sing “Big John” to me every time he would put me to bed. At bedtime most children get loving nursery rhyme songs — I got this/ Every mornin’ at the mine, you could see him arrive. He stood 6 foot 6 and weighed 245. Kind of broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip. And everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John. Big John. Big Bad John.

Dwayne concludes by revealing who will be directing:

Directing this big ol’ tentpole is the talented and passionate, Jake Kasdan. Jake and I found nice success together in a little movie called, JUMANJI. Gonna be a lot of fun bringing these legends to life. My childhood hero. The steel driving man and his disruptive band of international folklore legends. JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN
@sevenbucksprod @danygarciaco @hhgarcia41 @flynnpictureco @NETFLIX

What are your thoughts about The Rock as JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN?

The Rock posted a second video thanking everyone for the love and support despite the backlash:

 

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Thx for all the luv and great to see everyone pumped for our JOHN HENRY & THE STATESMEN movie. We have a great take on this folklore legend and his disruptive band of STATESMEN, who will be a bad ass multi cultural gang of fellow folklore legends from cultures all around the world. My old man would tell me bedtime stories about John Henry, and he’d always sing me, “Big John” to put me to sleep. Then of course the next day, he’d take me down to the gym and beat my ass on the wrestling mats. We’ll call those, the tough luv years lol. Thx again for the support. #JohnHenry ??? #AndTheStatesmen ? #NETFLIX

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Oct 10, 2018 at 5:26pm PDT