Dwayne Johnson has opened up about the role he didn’t get — he lost it to Tom Cruise – and how he’s really pleased he didn’t get it in the end.

During a live Facebook Q&A from coronavirus lockdown, the actor told his fans about the situation.

Johnson stated in a nearly seven-minute video posted to his Instagram account on Saturday that the role in the 2012 action film was one he ‘really wanted,’ but that his loss led to the opening of ‘another door.’

“In Hollywood, stars are sort of like in-a-box,” Johnson said about the picture that got away. “There are stars that can try a specific role due to the fact that it permits them to have a specific appearance, skin colour, dimension, and so on.”

“Fortunately, for me, there aren’t a great deal of people in any way that appear like me. So, every one of my duties, from the get go of my job, I have actually been a fortunate boy of a b *** h that they have actually been developed and also made for me– other than Jack Reacher.“

Jack Reacher could have looked very different if Dwayne had got the role instead of Tom (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

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Johnson, who auditioned for the role more than 10 years ago, acknowledged that he was ‘in a completely different position in [his] career’ at the time and that Tom was “obviously” the world’s biggest movie star, while he was not.

‘I wanted that role so badly because I was a big fan of that character and I thought I could do him justice.’

Dwayne assumed he was a shoe-in for the role because of his height and muscle, but the studio opted to take a another route.

“I got the call saying ‘Hey, you didn’t get the role’ Look, I didn’t even know if I had a shot for it, but the people around me at that time made me think that I did. I felt like I did, I felt like ‘Why not me?’” he said.

Dwayne got the call to join Fast & Furious shortly after (Picture: REX)

Regardless, Johnson was able to explore the part of Hobbs in Fast & &(***)5 with Universal, a position that has helped him become one of the world’s largest ticket office gamers. In 2015, he played alongside Jason Statham in the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw.

He added: ‘I said “Don’t worry about the money”, I’m doing alright right now. In success, if I create a character the people are going to like and it hits the zeitgeist of the culture in a cool way, the money is going to be there. They said, “Absolutely, it’s a deal”.’

By the way, Johnson’s first installment in the franchise, “Fast 5”, grossed more than $600 million worldwide, more than three times what Cruise’s “Jack Reacher” did.

“I’m positive that the role of Jack Reacher, because it was an established character, an IP that was well known and beloved around the world, that I wouldn’t have had the creative space to do what I wanted with the character,” he said.