Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is dissatisfied with his new wax figure at the Grevin Museum in Paris and has requested that the skin tone be changed. The actor expressed his displeasure in an Instagram post following comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr.’s interpretation of the wax figure, which depicted Johnson with lighter skin. Jefferson joked that Paris had turned “The Rock” into “the Pebble.”
Comedian Jefferson commented that The Rock’s wax statue appeared to have never seen the sun in its life. The Rock, who is of Black and Samoan descent, shared on Instagram the comedian’s video criticizing his light-skinned wax figure.
The Rock stated that he would contact the Grevin Museum in Paris to replace the wax figure, focusing on fixing the skin color. He gave warning that the next time he visits Paris, he will go to the museum and “have a drink with himself.”
According to CBS News, the Grevin Museum in Paris, like the Madame Tussauds museums in New York City and London, displays wax sculptures of renowned people such as Charlie Chaplin, Nelson Mandela, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Rock Johnson wax figure was made by sculptor Stéphane Barret, who relied on images and films rather than an in-person interaction with the celebrity, according to the museum. This was stated in a museum press release.
The production of The Rock Johnson’s wax figure required teams to tour gyms in search of a man with identical physical proportions to the superstar. Sculptor Barret stated that duplicating someone of The Rock’s size was difficult, and they were fortunate to find someone who closely matched Johnson’s physique and height, which added to the figure’s accuracy.
The sculptor stated that the crew struggled to recreate Johnson’s faint smirk in the reference photo used for the wax sculpture. The eyes of the figure were recreated three times to acquire the desired warmth while avoiding making them too black. As stated in the announcement, the process of painting Johnson’s Samoan tattoos on the statue took a total of 10 days, according to Barret.
Johnson is of Samoan descent and has played Pacific Islander characters such as Maui in Disney’s “Moana.” In 2021, he produced and starred in “Young Rock,” an autobiographical sitcom about his youth with his Black father, Canadian wrestler Rocky Johnson.
In response to a tweet from a Twitter user in 2019, Johnson stated that he identifies as both Black and Samoan, reflecting his mixed ancestry.