You don't have to ask Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson twice if he wants to have a good time.
When Chris Janson called the actor earlier this year to see if he would appear in the country star's music video for “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get,” within an hour, Johnson had said yes.
The result is a fun getaway as the two ride through a field and lay in the back of a brown 1970 Ford Explorer in the clip, laughing and enjoying each other's company. The mood matches the upbeat song's lyrics: “When I get a truck, I just jack it up/ Find yourself a laphole, go and get it stuck/ Head to toe in camo, that's how it is/ But I ain't tryin' to hide, what you see is what you get.”
“I love that song and I love the idea behind it, which is to always stay who you are, stay anchored and be your true self,” Johnson tells Zoom. “I always like to say that the most important thing we could be is ourselves, and that's Chris. That's one of the reasons we bonded and shot the video and it was awesome.”
The two met in 2022 when Janson was in California with his son and spotted the wrestling and movie superstar in a parking lot while they were both waiting for their cars. “If my child hadn't said, 'My God, the Rock is right in front of us! Dad, please ask for a picture, this might never have happened,” says Janson. “I'm a very shy guy. I have never, proudly, asked for a photo, because I understand the extent of what it entails when you are in the public eye. But God works in mysterious ways.”
Janson introduced himself, the two began talking country music, and once they discovered their mutual love of Hank Williams Jr., they broke into the 1980 hit “The Blues Man.” A friendship and nickname was born: Janson is referred to on Johnson's phone as “Chris 'The Blues Man' Janson”, while, for discretion, Johnson is referred to on Janson's phone simply as “DJ”.
They filmed Johnson's portion of the video outside of Dallas on March 8 because he was in town for WWE Smackdown. They met at the Mesquite Arena, slapped a GoPro camera on the truck and had a video crew follow them, and within two hours they were done. “It was so, so unscripted,” Johnson says. “It was, ‘Hey, I got a truck. You bring your guitar. We have a cool location. You bring your Mountain Dew, I'll bring the tequila and let's see what happens,” he recalls. “I'll say this in front of him: I had a great time making this video because as I was telling him afterwards, I gave him a big hug and said, 'Man, I just don't have moments like this. I could just hang out and be with a friend and have a few drinks and have fun,' because we're all so busy.'
The only bad taste? They didn't get to buy the vintage truck, which they both fell in love with. “And at the end, DJ says, 'We should try to buy that truck!' And I said, 'Yes, I should!'” says Janson. “So we both kind of like each other [asked], 'Hey mate, wanna sell the truck?' He says “No, I don't think so.” It was old school Texas, which I can appreciate. I respect that.”
So the two friends shared some barbecue, Johnson off to his concert and Johnson to his. They are still likely to break out into song. As Janson tells the story, he starts singing George Strait's “A Showman's Life.” “That's great,” Johnson says, shaking his head.
Johnson grew up with country music and by the time he was 15 had moved from Hawaii to Nashville. As he explains, his career path could have gone very differently. “They kicked us out of Hawaii, we couldn't pay the rent, they sent us to Nashville,” Johnson says. “I moved in with a friend of mine, a family friend in a motel. Then we started going down, hanging out [Broadway]. A couple of days later, I was at the Piggly Wiggly, singing a Hank song. A woman [who was shopping] he came around and kind of looked at me. I thought I did something wrong. He goes, “Do you sing?” I'm 15 and I said, “No, I just like to sing. I love the country.” He goes, “You have to get off [Broadway]. All the singers are there.”
Spurred on by her words, Johnson began hanging out on Broadway, “trying to get a gig in these honky-tonks because I had this dream in my head—or a delusion—that I was going to be a country music star.” He tells the story on his Instagram.
As for whether Johnson, who has showcased his songs in movies like Moana, is jumping into country waters like so many other celebrities and making a country album, she says, “We've got to work on it. Maybe this year, we'll see.” But first he plans to take Janson up on his invitation to join him on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Janson joined the venerable Opry last year and has played it more than 200 times. Or they could take the stage at Broadway's legendary Tootsie's, where Janson sang while living out of his car as a teenager. “I was living in the back seat of my car on purpose,” he says. “I didn't have enough money to have a hotel or anything, which was fine. I felt that I had succeeded.”
“We will do it together [at Tootsie’s]” says Janson. “It will be the first time together that we go back there. This is the wildest thing. Come to think of it, I don't know another person who has the exact same story as mine, so we tied up in the parking lot to take a picture. He tried to do it there and I tried it there and they gave me a gig there. I was a tip guy.”
Johnson takes on his friend's story, telling how Janson auditioned at Tootie's at 10 in the morning and got the gig, but that his tryout didn't go so well. “What comes full circle for me is that I got in [to Tootsie’s], it was afternoon, they told me 'No, you can't. Get out.' Eight years later, I was back in Nashville at the showgrounds where I was a pro wrestler making $40 a fight.”
Although the two friends haven't tried writing songs together, Johnson says he'd love to, and Janson is willing to give it a try, too. “He's one of the most talented guys I know, on and off stage, and it would be an honor to write a song with him,” says Janson. “We're all about what happens naturally, so the answer I would give, and I'm sure he would agree, is that if it does happen naturally, that would be great. And if he doesn't, that's okay too. We are still friends.” Seemingly prompted by Janson's emphasis on doing what comes naturally, Johnson breaks into Buck Owens and the Buckaroos' 1963 hit, “Act Naturally,” smiling as he sings, “They're gonna put me in the movies.”
