The Rock Is Proud of Cousin and ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ Co-star Roman Reigns

Dwayne Johnson is proud of cousin and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw co-star Roman Reigns, who makes his big screen debut as the brother of Johnson’s Luke Hobbs.

Johnson on Sunday tweeted it’s “great” having his cousin play his brother, adding in a subsequent tweet he’s proud of Reigns’ performance in his first movie role.

“Even more proud of his perseverance & strength as he takes one day at a time to recover from leukemia,” Johnson wrote. “Good to be with him in the islands during this time.”

The WWE superstar announced in October he was relinquishing the Universal Championship and taking a leave of absence from wrestling to battle his leukemia. The disease was previously in remission since late 2008.

“I’m very proud of his focus, effort and authentic performance in our movie for his very first time on film,” Johnson shared in an Instagram post announcing Reigns’ role.

“His perseverance and humility battling this challenge has inspired our entire family as well as millions around the world in our beloved WWE Universe. Can’t wait to see the ‘Big Dog’ return back to the ring — his positive & focused mindset to return is straight up next level.”

Johnson headlines the first Fast spinoff with The Fate of the Furious co-star Jason Statham, who reprises his role of British Army officer-turned-mercenary Deckard Shaw. Johnson and Statham are joined by franchise newcomers Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Eiza González (Baby Driver) and Idris Elba (Avengers: Infinity War).

The uneasy allies team to take down Elba’s Brixton, who Johnson calls the “baddest bad guy” the franchise has ever had.

David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2), who directs from a script penned by franchise writer-producer Chris Morgan, took inspiration from action-heavy buddy movies of the ’80s and ’90s, including Lethal Weapon and 48 Hours when pairing the action superstars.

“They’re ones that made me want to be a filmmaker in the first place,” Leitch said. “So to see the chemistry [Johnson and Statham] had in the last Fast, and to see the potential that they could be…it was hard not to say yes, and say, ‘Let’s go do this.’”

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw opens August 2.