Dwayne Johnson casting himself as folk hero prompts backlash over his skin color: 'John Henry was a very dark skin man & yes that matters'

Suzy Byrne
·Reporter

As far as celebrities go, Dwayne Johnson is largely beloved, but not everyone is cheering on his latest project.

With much social media fanfare, the actor also known as the Rock announced Tuesday that he’ll be making and starring in the film John Henry and the Statesmen about the folk hero, an African-American steel-driver among a team of railroad builders who literally worked himself to death. Johnson said the project held a special place in his heart because Henry was one of his “childhood heroes” and his father, former pro wrestler Rocky Johnson, used to sing “Big John” to him before he put him to sleep as a kid.

However, soon after Johnson announced the project, which will feature “an ensemble of the most popular folklore figures and legends from different cultures around the world,” there was backlash over whether Johnson, whose father is black and whose mother is Samoan, should be playing a character that has been depicted as a dark-skinned black man. (Other actors to have played the role include Danny Glover in TV’s Shelley Duvall’s Tall Tales and Legends and Roger Aaron Brown, in the 1995 Disney film Tall Tale.) In animations — like the 2000 Disney animated short — the character is typically dark-skinned as well. Twitter was quick to react to Johnson’s decision to cast himself.

People also suggested the names of other actors who seemed better suited for the role. Terry Crews was mentioned more than once.

Others wanted to see a newcomer in the role. After all, there’s no shortage of movies starring the Rock these days. (He’ll be finishing Hobbs and Shaw and shooting Jumanji 2 prior to production.)

People were also worried about who would play the supporting roles in light of the Rock being in the lead.

Some didn’t like the entire concept.

Several people also mentioned the backlash Zoe Saldana faced when the actress was cast as jazz legend Nina Simone.

Last year, Johnson — who has portrayed white, black, and Pacific Islander characters onscreen — told GQ that people most frequently guess that he is “…Greek?” However, he says he often describes himself as “brown” — or more aptly a “big, brown, bald, tattooed, very lucky SOB.”

A rep for Johnson has not yet responded to Yahoo’s request for comment about the backlash. However, the actor later posted on social media to say he’s thrilled “to see everyone pumped for” the film. While he didn’t mention the criticism, he did talk about how Henry was “a legend in African-American folk lore, which I grew up with.” He also talked about his own family history, mentioning the slave roots in his ancestry. “My dad always used to talk about our family coming up through the underground rail road as slaves, finally settling in Canada,” he said.

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