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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson proved once again on Monday that if you are “officially in [his] inner circle of love” as he put it recently on Instagram you truly are “breathing rarefied air.”
This time around DJ showed his love for a man who has been doing a lot of the movie dirty work for him for over a decade and a half: his stunt double Tanoai Reed (who also happens to be his cousin).
“SURPRISE! I love handing over keys. I love you brother and enjoy your new truck!” Johnson wrote alongside a video of himself presenting the brand new custom truck to his cousin.
“I love you brother and enjoy your new truck! Over the course of my career, my stunt double (and cousin) Tanoai Reed @samoanstuntman has broken multiple bones, severed tendons, torn ligaments & just been an overall dominating bad ass achieving several ‘Stuntman of the Year’ honors. All done with one goal in mind – deliver the best movie possible to the world.”
I had this custom pick up truck delivered just in time to surprise him (he’s still recovering from a stunt injury) while we give what he thought was going to be an interview about our careers together. As you’ll see the moment I put my hands on my hips, that’s the drivers cue to pull away and reveal the big surprise.
Not only does Tanoai represent our family and my career with relentless commitment and passion. He also represents an entire Hollywood stunt community that is truly the backbone of our business.
Love you uso and thank you for the blood, sweat, tears and years.
We’re just getting started.
Enjoy your new truck!
#LetsRoll 🤟🏾
Tanoai also shared some photos to his Instagram account that really captures the moment of surprise (swipe to see them all).
Awhile back, Mel magazine did a lengthy profile on Tanoai Reed.
For 16 years, Reed has been Johnson’s stunt double, a constant fixture on Team Rock, beginning in 2001, with Johnson’s first starring role in The Scorpion King.
The 44-year-old Hawaiian — born of Samoan, Norwegian, Swedish and Irish ancestors — is two years younger than Johnson. The two met for the first time when Reed, who was working on a movie set as a teamster, was serendipitously drafted for a stunt job. That’s also when Johnson learned something Reed had known for years: The two men are related — Reed’s and Johnson’s great-grandfathers were cousins.
Since then, as Johnson has risen to superstardom, Reed has been right there with him — jumping off buildings, getting hit by cars, crashing trucks into walls, falling down mountainsides, riding camels and engaging in epic hand-to-hand combat. To date, the duo has worked together on 24 movies.
And how they met is a story for the ages.
One day Reed was in the makeup trailer when Johnson entered and asked him, “Are you my new stunt double?”
Johnson took the next chair, and the two began to chat. “Inside, I wanted to scream out, We’re related! We’re related!” Reed remembers. “But I didn’t want to say nothing, right? I wanted to be super cool.”
At some point, Johnson asked the standard small-talk question: “So where are you from?”
“Hawaii.”
“Oh?” said Johnson. His mother is from a famous family of Samoan pro wrestlers. His father, Rocky Johnson, who was African-American, was also a well-known professional wrestler. Growing up, Johnson had lived all over the world, including New Zealand and Hawaii. “What part of Hawaii are you from?” he asked.
“Laie,” Reed said.
“Laie,” exclaimed Johnson. “I have family there.”
“I know,” Reed said. He began reeling off names: “Uncle Salesa, Uncle Neff — “
“Wait! How do you know them?” Johnson asked.
“That’s my Grandma Vaitai’s cousins.”
Johnson raised his trademark rubber eyebrow: “What’s your family name?”
And the rest, as they say, is history.