This turbulent month of rain and showers has sodden our British attitudes even more than usual. We were promised sun and yet had torrential rain. Its bleeding cold - with windy spells and bitterness. Yet when Dwayne Johnson, star of the upcoming disaster movie San Andreas, smiles he brings glorious sunshine of LA and America into the blistering capitol.
Last night, the stars of the earth-shattering blockbuster took to London for the World Premiere and the stocky muscle bound actor’s grin translates all his warmth, excitement and it’s as though summer has come a little earlier.
The glitz and glam were brought by the sublime female stars who swept the red carpet in stunning gowns. Kylie Minogue, who plays Beth Riddick in a small scene in the film, nearly showed too much when a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere. Alex Daddario, who plays daughter Blake (a character who with much strength, implements her survival instincts immediately in the San Andreas Earthquake), looks unshaken as she graciously meets her fans and the press. Carla Gugino, wearing this fitted red glitzy number spends little time on the red carpet before being ushered indoors but that doesn’t mean her presence wasn’t grand.
Off the female stars, who all give exciting performances in the film, Morgan Griffin is the relatively new actress. The blonde beauty, whose been living in the UK for 9 months and is a little appreciative of the nicer weather we have, plays Natalie Taylor, the first victim of the earthquake who is rescued by helicopter emergency services led by Johnson. “It was pretty epic,” says Griffin, talking about the breath-taking stunt that sees her tumble down a ravine in her car, “I was in a harness the whole time and it was amazing. The crew were all there to talk me through it. Dwayne was there too. He’s done this so many times so he just knew what to do and walked me through it. He’s a natural.”
And the man putting her in that experience is director Brad Peyton. The filmmaker had worked with Johnson before on Journey 2: The Mysterious Island but puts the massive star through the ringer by tearing apart his characters family during one of the biggest natural disasters in America. “Both the writer and producer of Journey 2 brought me the script. I worked on it with screenwriter Carlton Cause. What drew me to the story was the fact that it was a huge film but at the core of it was this family trying to piece themselves together. I was inspired that it had everything; heart, courage, visuals and strong females. I wanted to elevate it into one of those big classic movies and do the best I can with it”
With the release of San Andreas, it’s clear that this evening has recent tragic events on its mind with the devastating Nepal earthquake. “When you are making a movie where things are real, you have to show respect as a filmmaker,” says Peyton sending out his wishes to all of those tragically involved. “I’m not trying to insult the victims or scare people outside the realm of how much you want to be scared. At the end of the day it is about this family amidst this destruction. This isn’t silliness like aliens or robots. Obviously, all our prayers and thoughts go out to the families in Nepal. But the movie is about entertainment too.”
In the seat of all that trouble, entertainment and survival is the main man himself, Dwayne Johnson. The wrestler turned actor stands tall and muscular as he answers our questions and compliments this excited reporter’s tattoo. “I just wanted to work with hot women, that’s all,” he laughs, talking about his gorgeous co-stars and we cannot fault him. “No, I’m kidding. I read the script which was great - if we did it right. The movie is massive but there is a lot too it such as heart and family. All these cool elements needed to come together. The disaster genre is hard to do right. If you do, you’ll get something big.”
Finishing off the press round, Dwayne denied that any singing took place with Kylie Minogue and admired her brilliant acting as well joking that “she’s very tall.” As the stars raced off indoors to catch this year’s biggest blockbuster, Dwayne had to find out one thing. Did he break the world record?
With 105 accepted photos, Dwayne Johnson is a Guinness World Record holder!
As he roared with excitement, I could swear the sun burned a little brighter.
San Andreas is out May 28th.