Las Vegas Weekly

June 15, 2008 · 7:20 PM

Slimmed-down Rock has dropped a few stones

By John Katsilometes

As a defensive for the 1991 University of Miami national champion football team, Dwayne Johnson was listed at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds. But as his star has grown, he’s shed some poundage.

Johnson (who is also shedding the nickname “The Rock”) still stands 6-4, but after watching him work his way down the red carpet before today’s premiere of Get Smart at Planet Hollywood, it’s obvious he’s considerably lighter than 255. Adroitly employing a football frame of reference to illustrate my point, I said to the onetime Rock, “You look more like a quarterback now.” To which he replied, “This weight is technically called being svelte. Svelte is what it is!”

ROCK ON:

The premiere at the Stomp Theater and Johnson’s appearance was also to raise money and awareness for his Rock Foundation and Project Knapsack. A portion of the proceeds from the screening are being donated to Martinez Elementary School in Las Vegas, and as Johnson said from the stage prior to the movie, he was something of a hell-raiser as a kid growing up in Hayward, Calif. Johnson was most recently in town shooting Race to Witch Mountain, much of which was filmed at Planet Hollywood (it seems PH is open and available for any feature film shooting, as long as the logo is in focus) and has focused on his film career since his contract with the WWE expired in 2005. Incidentally, some good Rock trivia can be found here (example: Johnson was once teammates with Doug Flutie).

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