Finding fame in the world of professional wrestling, fighting in WWF/WWE as The Rock, 37-year-old Johnson is a nine-time world champion. After making the transition to acting, he earned his first big-screen role as the Scorpion King in 2001’s The Mummy Returns. His first leading role came the following year with the spin-off, The Scorpion King. Johnson has since worked in a number of movie genres, appearing in Doom, The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, Southland Tales, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Race to Witch Mountain, and Planet 51. In family comedy Tooth Fairy, he lines up alongside Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal, Ashley Judd and Stephen Merchant, playing the hard-hearted athlete Derek Thompson, a man whose mean-streak leads to an unusual transformation…

What sort of guy is Derek Thompson, and what’s his path to redemption?

When we first meet Derek he is an incredibly entertaining and arrogant, professional athlete who has this very unique ability in his world to knock out teeth! He is an ice-hockey player and he has earned the name Tooth Fairy. He also, unfortunately, has the rather sad ability to crush the dreams of little children. He is in the position where a lot of children look up to him. For example, they will say to him, ‘Hey, I want to be like you one day’, and his answer generally is somewhere along the lines of, ‘Well, in my opinion you should lower your expectations!’ It is very cruel but also kind of funny! The absurdity of telling a child that he or she should lower their expectations! And that’s how we meet this character. And then, of course, his path to redemption comes through experience, shame, and the collision of pride with ego. Something happens to him and with the help of the incomparable Julie Andrews and the through the incredibly talented Billy Crystal, he learns the great value of the power of believing.

You mention your big-name co-stars, but the film also witnesses a Hollywood debut for British comedian Stephen Merchant…

I loved the idea of finding a guy who in every way was a great juxtaposition to me, culturally, physically, in every way you could think of. And not only that, selfishly for me as an actor, I loved the idea of Stephen Merchant. We all knew that the guy was on the precipice of greatness and I have been such a fan of his from The Office. Stephen was great to work with, very collaborative, very creative. And I would say in Hollywood, Vince Vaughan and Stephen Merchant are the only two actors I have worked with who I actually have to look up to. I am six-foot-four and Stephen is a good six-foot-seven! And I am very, very proud of the work that he did on Tooth Fairy, which says a lot, because this content is like first-time content for the Tooth Fairy. It is our way of presenting the Tooth Fairy to the world and you never know how it is going to be. Nothing is guaranteed in life so I appreciated the fact that the cast read the script and they were so blown away, and entertained by it, that they all wanted to jump on board. Stephen is important because the film turns into something of a buddy comedy, and in a great buddy comedy there is this collision of worlds.

This must have been quite a personal project, because you helped develop it as well, right?

Yes. And I think it is very important. They brought the project to me about three years ago, and I loved the idea of playing a Tooth Fairy. I thought that we had an incredible opportunity to present something that has never been seen before. Everybody checked their ego at the door, threw all these ideas out on the table, and we decided what fits, what doesn’t, what is good, what is not. At the end of the day the most important thing is just to make a great movie and hope that the audience will find it very entertaining.

Does your own daughter still believe in the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas?

Yes, she does. She has just turned eight, so she’s at that wonderful age where they believe in the magic of the world, and believe in these wonderful characters that we have established over centuries — the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny — and as parents you embrace that. You want to hold on to that for as long as you can. It’s a truly special time, so movies like this carry a lot of meaning for me.

Are you a generous Tooth Fairy at home? What’s the going rate these days?

I am ridiculously generous to the point where I actually get tongue-lashings from her mum! When she lost her first tooth, I was going to leave ten bucks.

That’s good money. I used to get 10p, which is the equivalent of a dime...

That’s rough, man. I at least got a quarter.

As you say, the Tooth Fairy character hasn’t had a lot of screen time over the years. But what kind of folk tales did you listen to when growing up? Were there any from Polynesia?

The Polynesian ones that my cousins and me got growing up are the ones that generally say, ‘If you do bad, your head will turn into a coconut with red eyes and you won’t be able to speak!’ The adults of the family try to scare hell out of you, basically. But certainly I grew up with the traditional characters of the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. That’s the wonderful magical part of growing up, and as a parent living vicariously through your children is a wonderful thing.

Did you research different myths and fairy tales?

Sure, and it is really amazing. For example, in France the Tooth Fairy is a little mouse. Every culture has their version, and every culture has a rite of passage with every tooth. It is fascinating and as I say, I loved the fact that we had an opportunity to showcase something that you have never really been seen before on film, and yet it’s a character that has become so beloved over the years.

Before he is transformed into a fairy, your character is an ice-hockey player. Have you ever played the game, because it’s probably the toughest American sport, right?

It is an incredibly tough sport. I have a newfound respect for hockey players, and figure skaters, and anybody who is on the ice. I had never skated before. I had two weeks to learn and it was a real eye-opening and very sobering experience. The very first time that I fell on the ice — and the ice is very unforgiving — I thought I had separated my skull from my vertebrae. Again, I have walked away from this movie with a newfound respect for all hockey players, and a lot of bruises! I played American football for ten years. I wrestled for another six or seven years, which are fairly tough sessions. But hockey? It is in a league of its own. The padding is minimal, it’s very light and they really pick up steam. Their helmets are light too!

You have a Samoan heritage, so have you ever played rugby?

I did. I lived in New Zealand for some time and that is where I picked up the game of rugby and I started playing it. I was young, probably eight years and we were there for about a year. We were living in Auckland. I just played for a little bit. I can’t tell you what position but I had a lot of fun playing it. I have got a lot of buddies now who play rugby all round the world and I will say, ‘Okay hands down, rugby is the toughest sport you could play.’ It is unbelievable. No pads. Big tackles.

You know the world of sport better than most actors. Have you met guys who wanted to win at all costs, even if that means cheating?

Sure, you find that in any sector, politics, sports, anywhere, but in sports, yes, I have met guys who have the will to win at all costs. And that it includes cheating, if you will, and they will figure that it is not cheating unless they are caught! Some guys think like that. They don’t get very far.

Can you give me an example of something that you’ve witnessed?

You see it in rugby. Physically, they take shots at each other, and if they can gain the advantage they do. I think that is a little different though. If you want to try to impose your physical will on someone and try to take advantage of them, get in their head, psyche them out, if you will, then it is all apart of the game. But then there are athletes who take it one step one further, who decide to cheat the game and cheat themselves. But that always catches up with you and you always get caught.

How far do your movie ambitions range?

This is my tenth year of acting. Ten years ago the goal was to work in as many different genres as possible and hopefully find success in them. I started off in action and then went to action-comedy, then family, then a little bit of drama, and a little bit of sci-fi with Doom. And I have done an interesting independent movie, Southland Tales, with Richard Kelly. So the goal is to always have a diverse career. We are developing really fantastic projects now that speak to me and move me as an actor.

You’ve done a few family films on the spin…

Yes, I have made three family comedies in a row although I have mixed in some action with Get Smart, and I have just mixed in another movie called The Other Guys. But I made The Game Plan and Race to Witch Mountain and now Tooth Fairy. Actually, Tooth Fairy will be my last family comedy for a little while. I am getting ready to go back and make a real big action movie called Faster. Despite all the genres that I have worked in — from sci-fi and drama to action comedy and family comedy — there’s nothing like a big action movie! Honestly, there’s nothing like kicking ass and having a great time. I have been waiting for the right opportunity to go back into the action genre. Waiting for the right material to come along.

You mention The Other Guys, an action-comedy with an all-star cast…

Sam Jackson and me play over the top comedic characters. We are two superstar cops of New York City. We are the movie stars of the cop world in New York, and we’re beloved by the city. We are the guys. The Other Guys are Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell who are also cops but not as successful. We had a great time with Sam, Mark and Will and everyone on set. Adam McKay, the director, was fantastic. I want to work with him again.

Can you tell me about the next movie you’re shooting, Faster?

Faster is an action drama. My character is involved in a heist and it goes awry. The guys we’re involved with execute my brother and I, although I survive. And I serve time for about 15 years, I get out and those guys are going to pay me back with their own lives. I am out to find every single one of them. Billy Bob Thornton has just signed on, and George Tillman is going to direct. He did Men of Honor and recently he did Notorious, which I enjoyed. Basically, it is very simple and it is a throw back, if you will, to a movie like Unforgiven, where the characters are so well written. In no way am I comparing myself to Clint Eastwood — he is my favourite director and that is one of my favourite movies — but it was beautifully written against a backdrop of a simple story. Again, it’s, ‘You took something from me. You took my best friend and now you are going to pay.’ It should kick some serious ass!