Dwayne Johnson has had a ton of major career highs, from becoming one of WWE’s biggest stars to headlining billion-dollar movie franchises like the Jumanji series. But before he became a movie calendar staple, there was The Mummy Returns, a movie that helped launch him as a film actor and also gave the internet one of its favorite CGI punching bags. And now, the former WWE star is getting real about that viral Scorpion King VFX moment, and it’s amazing.
Just recently, Johnson revisited the infamous Scorpion King sequence from the 2001 Brendan Fraser movie. The moment comes during the finale, when Mathayus returns as a giant scorpion-human creature. It has become one of the most famous examples of early-2000s VFX aging badly, and the star behind the VFX clearly knows it. As he put it during an interview posted to Esquire’s Instagram account:
There’s been a lot of conversation about this. The truth is, our guys worked so hard with the VFX to get this right, but I think, literally, they ran out of time. As funny as this is, and as funny looking as it is, it also actually launched my career. And this is a big deal. Supposed to be looking at my career highlights. This is like my career fucking lowlights.
That is a very Rock answer. He can laugh at the moment, call it what it is and still give credit to the artists who were trying to make it work. Honestly, that balance is what makes the quote land. The effect does look rough, and everyone knows it looks rough. But what’s great is that Johnson is not throwing the VFX team under a sand crawler. Unfortunately, the team was hit with something that’s plagued visual effects artists for decades: not a short timetable.
That tracks with what Brendan Fraser previously said about the same scene. Fraser even told The Rock during a one-on-one conversation about how even the CGI team wasn’t happy how the scene came out. But, according to Fraser, “it’s charming in its own way.” The Rick O’Connell actor said he met members of the CGI team at the movie’s premiere and congratulated them, only for them to admit they needed more time.
Fraser also joked that the final creature looks like something out of an early video game, which seemingly adds to its nostalgic appeal. That feels pretty accurate. The Scorpion King at the end of The Mummy Returns does not exactly look like a real person fused with a giant scorpion. I’d more so liken it to something that wandered out of a PlayStation loading screen and somehow made it into a major Universal blockbuster.
Still, Johnson’s larger point is important. As goofy as that moment has become, it changed his life. Not only was The Mummy Returns his first major movie role, but it also led directly to The Scorpion King, his first starring vehicle. I bet plenty of actors would kill for a career lowlight that also opens the door to becoming one of the biggest stars in some of the best action movies.
There’s also something oddly fitting about Johnson’s Hollywood career beginning with a meme-ready digital monster. Even buried under some truly cursed CGI, the charisma still broke through, and audiences and studios could see there was something there. And that, to me, is what makes the man a true star.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s next big screen outing is his reprisal of the role of Maui in Disney’s live-action Moana, which lands in theaters on July 10.