Arts | Entertainment | Sports 2024: DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON

Known as “The Rock,” Johnson shot to fame as a professional wrestler and is now one of the nation’s most popular and prolific movie and TV actors. He’s also been a relatively quiet resident of Virginia for several years, he acknowledged on social media posts in 2019. Johnson owns a horse farm in Orange County that serves as a retreat from Hollywood.

In addition to his movie career — including the “Fast & Furious” and “Jumanji” franchises — Johnson is a co-owner of the United Football League, a spring pro football league that started in 2024 after the merger of the United States Football League and the XFL. His business partner and ex-wife, Dany Garcia, runs their production company, Seven Bucks Productions, which produces TV shows and movies, including the “Young Rock” and “Ballers” TV series and a forthcoming remake of “Big Trouble in Little China.”

Although Johnson’s known for his comedy and action movie career, in 2023 he made headlines for his philanthropy, making a seven-figure gift to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation during the writers’ and actors’ strike — a sum that SAG-AFTRA Chairman and President Courtney B. Vance declared was the largest single donation in the organization’s history.