What personal experience left Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson saying “It hurt my heart” in his latest interview?

Dwayne Johnson, professionally called "The Rock," has battled through innumerable scars and injuries throughout his wrestling and acting career, but the celebrity says nothing has ever hurt more than the day when he and his mother were driven out of their Honolulu apartment.

In an exclusive tell-all with the New York Times, the Smashing Machine actor revealed that the heartbreak he felt when he and his mom, Ata Johnson, were evicted was the "worst."

"The worst pain I’ve ever felt was when we were evicted from Hawaii and I was sent to Nashville to live with my dad."

At 15, Dwayne Johnson was caught in the middle of his parents’ collapsing marriage. He was living with his mother in Hawaii while his father, pro-wrestler Rocky Johnson, was based in Tennessee.

When they got home one day and saw the eviction notice on their residence's door, Ata burst into tears, and it broke him too. The Red Notice star shared:

"It hurt my heart. It hurt my heart to see my mom like that."

Afterward, his mom arranged for him to live with his father in Nashville while she handled moving their car and their belongings. She had called Rocky about the situation, who responded:

"No problem, I've got an apartment."

However, instead of meeting his father, Dwayne Johnson was greeted by a man named Bob. He drove the mother and son to a motel where they would stay for the time being.

Dwayne and his mother immediately picked up that Rocky was living with another woman.

"My heart hurts when I think about that. The pain that my mom was driving with. Like: What is my life now? That whole time."

He went on:

"That was it. Within five minutes, it all just... It wasn’t even an explosion. It was just — a collapse."

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Heartbreaking confession: Dwayne Johnson on his mother Ata’s attempted s**cide

Dwayne Johnson recounted that Ata attempted to succumb to the extreme, an incident he also divulged in a lengthy Instagram post in 2018.

"Not your typical scene on our comedy #ballers, as I cracked a beer open toasting my character’s brother, William who committed s**cide. Got me thinkin’ though bout how many of us have been affected by s**cide of our friends, family. Struggle and pain is real. We’ve all been there on some level or another."

In the photo, Dwayne Johnson stands before a tomb for William Strasmore, a catalyst character in the HBO sports-comedy series Ballers whose s**cide became a turning point for the protagonist.

The actor further shared a personal experience:

"My mom tried to check out when I was 15. She got outta the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic. Big rigs and cars swerving outta the way not to hit her. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road."

He went on:

"What’s crazy about that s**cide attempt is to this day, she has no recollection of it whatsoever. Probably best she doesn’t."

Dwayne Johnson ended his message with the reminder to his fans and followers to pay attention when people are in pain.

"Help ‘em thru it, get ‘em talkin’ about the struggle and remind ‘em that they’re not alone."