The Dwayne Johnson wax figure is unveiled at Musee Grevin on October 16, 2023 in Paris, France.
The Rock doesn't look exactly like The Rock.
Dwayne Johnson made an Instagram post Sunday in response to the backlash over a museum's wax statue of the actor that has a skin tone lighter than his actual complexion.
The statue, which was released earlier this month at Musée Grévin in Paris, was found by some on social media to look more like Vin Diesel or Mr. Clean than Johnson, whose late father was of Black Nova Scotian descent and whose mother is Samoan.
Johnson intends to correct that.
"For the record, I’m going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grevin Museum, in Paris France 🇫🇷 so we can work at “updating” my wax figure here with some important details and improvements- starting with my skin color," Johnson posted.
Maybe while they're at it, they can also do something about the statue's very un-Rock-like wardrobe.
Entertainment News
Johnson's post included a video of the statue being roasted by comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr., who said the statue made the Rock look like "a pebble" or a member of the royal family.
The museum told TODAY.com in a statement that changes will be made.
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"We noticed it and will obviously remedy it as quickly as possible and send him new photos once completed," a spokesperson for the museum said. "We are waiting for him when he will come to Paris and the Grevin Wax Museum to celebrate that with a cup of champagne."
Sculptor Stéphane Barret relied on photos and videos to "create a statue as close to reality as possible, without the presence of the international star," according to the museum's website. The team went to gyms seeking a stand-in with similar measurements to Johnson.
"We were lucky enough to find someone who physically matched Dwayne Johnson's build and height," Barret said on the website. "That really allowed us to get it right."
The statue's eyes had to be redone three times "to avoid too dark a tint making the star's face too hard and erasing its warm aspect."
"We worked on his face and eyes several times,” Barret said, “because the most complicated thing about realism is getting the statue to come alive from the visitors’ perspective.”
From Johnson's perspective, more touch-ups are needed. "And next time I’m in Paris," Johnson wrote, "I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself."
