As noted, a new Sitcom drama has started to get aired on NBC which is based on the life of the Rock. The series was premiered on February 16, 2021, and their media partner is NBC as mentioned above.
Wrestling fans were all hyped up after hearing the news of a television drama that will feature the story of the younger life of the WWE Legend Rock. Because the Rock’s biopic does not only mean the story of Dwayne Johnson only but the stories of the likes of Rocky Johnson, Lia Maivia, and Peter Maivia who are the family members of Dwayne and were also big names in professional wrestling.
Matthew Willig On His Role Of Andre The Giant On Young Rock
The series also featured actors playing the roles of some of the biggest legends in wrestling such as The Iron Shiek, Junkyard Dog, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, The Wild Samoans, Andre the Giant, etc.
Speaking of Andre The Giant, his role is being played by Matthew Willig who recently spoke with Hollywood Life about his role,
They didn’t even ask me to gain weight. I knew I needed to. I needed to have that Andre feel. He wasn’t a guy that worked out. He wasn’t buff or cut up. He was just Andre, you know? I kind of had to eat myself into that. I gained about 35 pounds, which is a lot of weight, and I am not a small guy to begin with… I have been as low as 275 and have beefed up in the last year and hovered around 295ish.
On my frame at six-eight, I don’t look fat at all, but I knew I needed to add fat. Thirty-five pounds was tough. I did it in increments three months before I shot, including adding the last 10 in Australia while in quarantine and nothing to do, so it was a little easier at that point. But again, I tried to make sure that when my shirt was off and trunks, I wanted to have that Andre look as much as possible.
The first challenge was the accent, and I know there are critics who will say things, and I know people said I sounded Russian. But Andre’s accent was so unique that I worked with a French dialect coach and sort of learned the speech patterns of the French and some of the words he would say or interpret into English, and that was a big challenge. And then from that, he was very lazy with his talk. He had a really big tongue, and there was a lot of mumbling. It was challenging to hone in on the voice.
The series is being loved by the fans pretty much. And it is believed that it will feature a total of 6 seasons to complete the whole series. Things are looking pretty bright so far, hopefully, it will get even better.