You’ve probably seen one of the memes about Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s wig in the live-action Moana remake. It “deserves its own credit in the movie,” one of the memes says. “Everyone in the Moana trailer is fighting for their lives… meanwhile Dwayne Johnson’s wig is fighting gravity, the wind, and its own contract obligations,” another says. Even parody singer Weird Al Yankovic, who has long, curly locks himself, waded in, saying: “We’ve told all the casting agents that the Weird Al biopic sequel is currently on hold, but they just keep sending in headshots.”
Johnson, though, is taking the internet’s good work in his stride, telling Variety that the memes made him laugh “so f***ing hard.”
“They memed me,” Johnson continued. “The internet did the internet. It was very, very funny, but I was like, ‘OK, it’s alright, just see the movie.’ Wait to you see it. It’s Maui’s superpower. It’s all good.”
Johnson reprises his role as the loveable demigod for the live-action remake, with Maui’s long, flowing hair one of his defining features alongside his tattoos and muscles. Johnson, of course, is bald. So, with CGI hair a no-no, a wig was the only option.Despite all the attention Johnson is getting for his Maui wig, he has worn one multiple times over the years for various characters. Only last year, Johnson wore a wig in The Smashing Machine, in which he played Mark Kerr (he didn’t get quite as much internet abuse for that one). And in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, Johnson wore a long, unkempt black wig for his live-action scenes as the Scorpion King.
