The Rock underwent surgery on his ruptured Achilles tendon on the 23rd June. The surgery was performed by Dr John Uribe, the former team physician for the Miami Dolphins that has handled all of The Rock’s previous operations.
He is expected to be off of his crutches by the end of July and is aiming to film his non-action scenes in Game Plan in late September or early October, with the football and ballet scenes being held off until December or January. The Rock plays an egotistical, Super Bowl bound NFL quarterback who suddenly finds out he has a seven year-old daughter. His character is subsequently involved in a professional ballet recital, which he was preparing for by doing six hours practise a day with the Boston Ballet. This was in addition to football practise for both this movie and Gridiron Gang, released in September, where he plays a coach and councillor for a group of troubled youths. It is based on a true story and is tipped to be a landmark role for him.
The Rock also moved into a new home in south Florida recently and has hired a physical therapist, chef and trainer to help him get back into shape.
In a recent interview with IGN, when asked if he had an itch to return to wrestling, he said “Not necessarily. I get excited for those guys because I know what it’s like. I get excited for my boys. Between Kurt Angle and John Cena and Rey Mysterio, all those cats. I don’t get the itch to go back as muc as when I watch the show. I get antsy and frustrated at a lot of things I see. I’m like, ‘Damn, I wish they would’ve said this’, or ‘I wish they would have done this’, or ‘I wish this dude would have said this in response to that’. Other than that, I’m good. They had asked me to be a part of WrestleMania [against Shawn Michaels] but I couldn’t because of the timing of a movie. Besides, if I go back, it has got to make sense. It has to be someone who it makes sense with.”
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
