Dwayne Johnson has gone from WWE to Hollywood, but he also has dreams for the Great White Way. Speaking with People, the “Moana” star opened about his hopes to perform on Broadway, even disclosing that he had discussed teaming up with his frequent co-star Kevin Hart for a production of a Neil Simon classic.
“[We] were going to do ‘The Odd Couple,’” Johnson said. “We should’ve been great. Kevin is my best friend. I love him to death. The truth is [that] he’s so booked for the next three to five years. … That’s his schedule, that’s a reality. I totally get it. And I love it and I respect him for that.”
Johnson also shared that he and Hart had planned to work with theater producer Jeffrey Seller, whose credits include the original Broadway productions of “Rent,” “In the Heights” and “Hamilton.” Johnson shared that he’s been working on a Broadway debut for “the past two-and-a-half to three years.”
“[Kevin and I] do ‘Jumanji,’ which we’ll promote that at the end of the year. But I’m not letting that dream go,” Johnson added.
One of playwright Neil Simon’s best known works, “The Odd Couple” follows the bickering domestic lives of two male roommates — one a neat-freak facing divorce, the other his more slobbish friend. First produced on Broadway in 1965, stage shows of “The Odd Couple” have since been produced worldwide. The script was also adapted into a 1968 film, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and inspired two TV series — first in the 1970’s with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, and again in the 2010’s with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon.
Johnson went on to explain that he is still eyeing other Broadway opportunities, sharing that he has consulted with his “Moana” director Thomas Kail about a possible team-up for the stage. Before helming Disney’s live-action remake, Kail had made his mark on Broadway with director credits including “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” as well as recent revivals of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Proof.”
“We’ll see. But maybe it’s ‘The Odd Couple’ with Jeffrey. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a musical and I could run around singing in keys that don’t exist,” Johnson said. “I might do a little dance. I might snatch my waist a little bit. We’ll see.”
Johnson and Hart will likely make the promotional rounds together later this year for “Jumanji: Open World,” their third entry in Sony Pictures’ action-comedy franchise. The installment is slated for a Christmas Day theatrical release.
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