Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Selected As Most Popular Actor By Gen Z

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has hit a major milestone he can be proud of: being the "Most Popular Actor" to Generation Z! A consulting firm did a study of what Gen Z loves, and when it came to the subject of actors, The Rock was the clear favorite by a considerable margin. 

The Rock celebrated being the MVP actor of Gen Z with a humorous Twitter post, which reads: "Thx u Gen Z for choosing this Gen X big, brown, bald, tattooed, fanny pack man as your #1👊🏽🖤 I'll continue to work hard to provide entertainment and comfort for all you As well as good tequila. If you're over 21🤣🥃 Thanks again, means a lot🙏🏽".

Coming in just behind The Rock on the Gen Z actor popularity charts was Spider-Man franchise star Tom Holland, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp, Iron Man/Avengers franchise star Robert Downey Jr., and Harry Potter star Emma Watson rounding out the top 5. From that breakdown, it's pretty clear that Gen Z is heavily influenced by those actors/celebrities they know from some of the most popular film franchises of their youth (late '90s to early 2010s). That includes Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, and Marvel movies. 

In the case of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, he exploded in popularity during the 2000s, both inside the wrestling as WWE's "The Rock" (until 2004), and on the screen in films like The Scorpion King, setting records as the highest-paid debut actor ever ($5.5 million for his first film) and going on to bolster franchises like Fast and the Furious and Jumanji, as well as numerous standalone films like Pain & Gain, Hercules, Skyscraper, Central Intelligence and more. Johnson has also been one of the most prolific all-around celebrities and product ambassadors of the 21st century, as well as a sucessful producer through his Seven Bucks venture, doing everything from movies to hit TV shows like Ballers and more recently Young Rock. 

In short: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is – pound for pound – the biggest all-around celebrity that Gen Z has known, bridging entertainment, sports, music, and even (for a brief moment of consideration) politics. He's one of the few remaining examples of the classic movie star archetype; however, some may argue this award is a signal of times that could be changing... 

Rock is currently embattled in some hard times right now, as his longtime superhero movie passion project Black Adam seems to have been a big box office miss, with the DC movie franchise moving ahead without him. That said, getting his flowers form Gen Z is a timely balm to remind The Rock he's still got a lot of enduring love out here... 

Black Adam is on HBO Max.