On a warm afternoon near Waikiki Beach, Johnson is in his hotel room to promote the movie. Charming and funny, he talks straight about his background, fighting back against bullying, and how football saved his life.

Q: How was it coming back to Hawaii to shoot the movie?

It was great. Look, when I was in elementary, middle and high school and I was getting in trouble and doing a lot of things I shouldn’t have been doing. I never thought that I’d be able to come back in this capacity bringing millions and millions of dollars back to the island with this movie.

Q: So you're still connected to Hawaii?

I’ve got a lot of family here, sure, yeah. I love coming back.

Q: Looking the way you do, you’ve probably never been bullied, but even so, what advice would you give someone going through that kind of experience?

No I did. I got bullied when I was younger, sure. And I talk to high school kids all the time about bullying. This is what happens: kids, people, they all reach a threshold where enough is enough, and they’ll fight back. That’s what I did. I knocked one guy in the jaw, I knocked another guy in the jaw, and they never did it again. Now, that’s what I did, not always the best thing, but it was the best thing for me.

Q: But what would you say to someone who’s not built the way you are?

My advice to them is this: communicate and tell someone. Tell your parents, tell your teachers, be adamant about it. Pull them aside, show them the person who's doing it. There’s a lot of things that someone can do but we have to give them the opportunity to do that and make sure that they know that adult figures are there in their life to listen to them.

Q: What about kids who are lost or insecure?

Well, use me as an example. I was arrested nine times by the time I was seventeen. I was doing a lot of things from fighting, to theft, to assault, a lot of shit. But I was fortunate that I had some really good people in my life and some adult figures, aside from my parents, who believed in my potential even when I didn’t. So number one, use me as an example, and number two, and this is broad, but I believe it because I lived it: there are no dreams that are too big. Be fearless in terms of your dreams and chase your greatness. I am an example of that.

Q: So having a passion for something, whatever it is, is key?

Oh absolutely, so when it comes to work, try and set up a scenario where you are doing something that you are passionate about. If you are passionate about something, you are living in its truth. It can’t ever be denied, whatever it is, and it’s going to show. You're going to shine when you do it, whatever it is, because you are passionate about it. People can feel that and they feel that energetically and they’ll respond to it in a positive way. So yes, whether it’s sports whether it’s science, the arts, find your passion and go after it.

Q: For you it was sports?

For me, my passion was sports. My ideology when it comes to success and 'making it,' comes from being driven. I didn’t want to be poor anymore. I didn’t want to see anymore evictions, notices on our house. I didn’t want to see any car repossessions, I didn’t want that anymore. When I was 14, I felt, ‘Wow, I can control my life. I could make something of myself. I could build my body, I could play sports, I can give myself a shot, and I could change my family’s situation so that they won’t be poor anymore. We can live in a house for the first time and not an apartment.’ So those were all the things that I think drove me. So yes, sports became my passion and my outlet to where I was able to shift my focus onto something that was more positive.

Q: Was there one defining moment that made you change your life?

No, there wasn’t one moment, there were multiple moments that culminated. I knew that the last time I got arrested that I wasn’t going to get arrested anymore. I just remembered that. We were struggling so badly at that time in terms of living paycheck to paycheck and not having anything as a family. My parents were struggling, working their asses off just to try and put food on the table literally, and yet I was a big reason of their pain. And that hit home to me. I didn’t want to be a reason of that pain anymore, so that helped the shift. And it all happened. The universe, God, whatever you believe in, works. I had gotten into a big fight and I got expelled from school. A coach pulled me aside, and said, ‘I want you to come and play football for me.’ He didn’t know me, I was new in the school, and he was a coach, but he was also a teacher of a bunch of bad kids, and he was the one who took care of the bad kids and saw the potential. He grabbed me and he said, ‘I want you to play football for me.’ It changed my life, just like that.

Q: You’re raising a daughter - would you say that girls are easier than boys when it comes to growing up?

I don’t know that girls are easier than boys. I think both girls and boys have their challenges as you raise your children. It’s an interesting balance I think when you are raising children because you want them to make the right decisions, you don’t want them to get hurt but yet you understand the value in lessons in life. You make mistakes, the lesson is getting back up and trying again, so I don’t think (laughs) little girls are easier, no.

Q: Your daughter is growing up in a much different environment from the way you did. It must be difficult for you not to spoil her…

No, I do, I do. She's daddy’s little girl (laughs). She knows that. Women know that. If you have a special relationship with your dad it can be a special thing. So, I do. The balance is spoiling her because I love her, but yet also to make sure she understands the value of a dollar, the value of hard work and the value of discipline and how important that is.

Q: Was acting always one of the things you dreamed about?

No, I do, I do. She's daddy’s little girl (laughs). She knows that. Women know that. If you have a special relationship with your dad it can be a special thing. So, I do. The balance is spoiling her because I love her, but yet also to make sure she understands the value of a dollar, the value of hard work and the value of discipline and how important that is.

Q: Was acting always one of the things you dreamed about?

I did. I dreamed of being Harrison Ford when I was eight years old. I watched Indiana Jones and I was amazed at that type of adventure I'd never seen in a movie like that, and also, this man was physical, he was handsome, he was charming, he was great with the women, he was funny, he was bad ass, great with a punch, great with a gun, just incredible.

I never had any connections in Hollywood. My parents weren’t actors or studio executives, Hollywood was a dream, a place far, far away. So for me, sports became my outlet, and when I started wrestling that just gave me a platform for television and entertaining. Then I had the opportunity to branch off into film about eleven years ago. And here I am.

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