Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is beefing his body back up, or so the internet thinks.
Two years ago, the professional wrestler-turned-actor packed on 30 extra pounds for his role as Mark Kerr in “Smashing Machine,” fully committing to the part with added hair and facial prosthetics that made him nearly unrecognizable.
By last fall, Johson was already trimming back down for “Lizard Music,” only for fans to now do a double take again as a heavier version of him pops back up — leaving some wondering if his body is on a faster schedule than his film releases.
On Monday, March 23, pictures and videos surfaced of Johnson looking thicker than he was a few months prior on the internet, showing his chest covered in tattoos and a dark, wavy wig on his head.
Some fans were taken aback by the added inches of hair.
One person who poked fun at Johnson’s look said, “The wig he always be a bald guy and then boom.” Another individual described, “They really just slapped on the wig and called it a day.”
His dramatic transformation is for his fictional role as Maui in the live-action version of the Disney film “Moana.” Johnson voiced the shape-shifting demigod in the 2016 animated film and the 2024 sequel.
Others felt that even though he brought Maui’s character to life with his voice, he didn’t fully reflect what Maui looked like in the animated movies. Though Johnson’s figure is typically muscular, several people believe Maui has a more chubby build.
One person who thought so wrote, “Dwayne is big but he’s not wide like maui..should have been a fat guy.”
Dwayne Johnson as Maui in live action Moana is looking unreal! The tattoos, the hair, the sheer size pure demigod energy.
— gonnersblood (@nwibo_azubuike) March 23, 2026
July 10 is locked in my calendar. This one’s gonna be massive! 🌊💪 Who’s counting down already?
Dozens agreed that Johnson looked too wide, but they were under the impression it wasn’t from his natural muscles. One person asked, “Is he wearing one of those muscle suits to HIDE his body?”
Someone else added, “The Rock wearing a muscle suit just looks stupid. If anything it should have been a fat suit to match the cartoon.”
Though it’s not clear whether Johnson had on a suit or not, production of the live-action version of “Moana” started in summer 2024, which lines up to around the time Johnson was filming for “Smashing Machine.” So the extra weight he has would make sense.
But as it turns out…drumroll please – Johnson does in fact have on a bodysuit.
Dwayne Johnson as Maui in the live-action ‘Moana.’ Out July 10th.
— ZEEZ 🌚 (@Swaggzeez1) March 23, 2026
pic.twitter.com/Es1YWgyoiL
He only had about one month to prepare to play Maui after filming “Smashing Machine.” He was 282 pounds after filming that and knew he needed to drop 50 pounds to film for “Lizard Music.” But the dilemma with being slimmer was that it conflicted with playing a chubby character like Maui. And even if he added a bodysuit, if he lost weight he would be losing it in his neck too.
He told Entertainment Weekly, “I couldn’t have a big bodysuit and then a small little skinny neck. Forty, 50 pounds is a lot to put on. Then it’s a lot to maintain for months… It was grueling because of the suit and how hot it was. Wait till you see pictures. In between takes, there’s literally five, six people, all [with] fans, opening me up, pulling my hair back.”
As for the decision to wear a bodysuit, he added, “There was an idea that maybe we were gonna do this whole thing with visual effects, body and everything,but then there’s also a tactile, emotional resonance when it’s a real bodysuit. It moves and breathes with you. So we thought the best iteration of this was, let’s go for it, let’s challenge [makeup artist] Joel [Harlow], and he rose to the occasion.”
The live-action “Moana” will hit the theaters this summer on July 10.
