Dwayne Johnson has opened up about his turbulent family history – recounting a violent incident involving his father at Christmas.

One of Hollywood’s most famous stars, Dwayne’ The Rock’ Johnson made his cinematic debut alongside Brendan Fraser in The Mummy Returns (2001) – later fronting his own sequel titled The Scorpion King (2002) and appearing in the likes of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Black Adam (2022), and Fast Five (2011).

However, the star has faced a string of misfortune in recent times, becoming entangled in a kidnapping lawsuit and starring in a string of misfires at the box office that have reportedly led to some wariness about his abilities as a leading man.

Regardless of his recent bad luck, Johnson has had an incredible ride from WWE to the big screen. In an appearance on The Pivot Podcast in May, he delved into his experiences – and opened up about some more tragic aspects of his past.

The son of a wrestler, Johnson has previously talked about his “incredibly difficult” relationship with his father, Rocky. In his autobiography “The Rock Says,” he candidly detailed his struggles with his father’s absent nature throughout his wrestling career. Now, he’s opened up about a specific incident from his father’s teenage years that shaped their turbulent family dynamic.

Johnson revealed that Rocky’s mother brought home a new boyfriend for Christmas when his father was 13 years old, and a year had passed since his own father’s passing. Rocky’s arrived drunk and proceeded to urinate on the turkey. Rocky violently confronted the man with a shovel, knocking him out cold.

“My dad, at 13, he grabbed the shovel and laid him out cold “as a block of ice,” said Johnson. “Cops came. As he was out, the cops looked at my grandmother and said, ‘When he gets up, one of two things are going to happen. Either he’s gonna kill him, or he’s gonna kill someone. One of ’em has to go.’ And my grandmother looked at my dad and said, ‘You’re out.’”

Regardless, his father went on to forge an impressive wrestling career, becoming the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion before retiring in 1991. Rocky Johnson sadly passed away in 2020.

Dwayne Johnson also used his appearance on the podcast to open up about his experiences with depression, dubbing his daughters his “saving grace” throughout his career. The actor can next be seen in the upcoming Red One (2023) and Disney’s live-action remake of Moana (2017), where he will reprise his role of Maui.