Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is opening up about one of the first times he worked on a television series.
In a December 2025 interview on Moovy TV, Johnson referenced that he started his career as a professional wrestler. During his time in the WWE, he began to branch out in the entertainment industry and took on acting roles in television shows. During the Moovy TV interview, Johnson shared that his earliest acting gigs included a 1999 episode of That ’70s Show, a 1999 episode of The Net, and a 2000 episode of Star Trek: Voyager. In the season 6 Star Trek: Voyager episode, Johnson played The Champion, who battles Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan, in a violent Tsunkatse match.
While speaking to Moovy TV, Johnson said he thoroughly enjoyed his experience working on Star Trek: Voyager, which had a seven-season run until 2001. He explained that he took on the role of The Champion because he was trying to get “experience as an actor,” outside of the world of the WWE.
“I was taking these roles these cameos on these television shows and they had come to me and said, ‘Hey are you interested in doing Star Trek: Voyager?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I would love to. Let’s do it,'” said Johnson in the December 2025 interview. “And I went down to set and we had a great time that day and the crew, the cast, everybody was so awesome, but very specifically Jeri Ryan was amazing.”
According to Johnson, Ryan “was so welcoming and warm,” which he appreciated as he was new to acting.
“Jeri was so amazing and so cool and gorgeous and like, it blew me away how just wonderfully welcoming she was,” continued Johnson.
He then suggested that he didn’t feel all that welcomed by the stars of other television series he had made appearances in at the start of his acting career.
“The truth is at that time in my career, I was doing this show and that show and it was just cameo, cameo, cameo. These shows were pretty popular shows and the stars of those shows were popular stars,” said Johnson in the interview. “And so a lot of times they knew, ‘Oh, we’re going to get this person coming in from the world of wrestling.’ You know, sometimes I would show up on these sets and it was a little bit of a like, ‘Oh, here we go again, like another guy. Okay. You know, he’s never acted before and I got to carry the baggage.’ And I would feel that energy from some of these folks and I got it and I just tried to get through the day and try to learn as much as I could.”
Johnson went on to say that he has never forgotten Ryan’s welcoming and warm energy.
“But Jeri was never like that. She was f—–g cool, man. And anyway, like moments like that I don’t forget because it’s the great reminder that you got to remember people always remember how you treat them. And she was amazing,” said Johnson.
After his Star Trek: Voyager cameo, Johnson managed to become one of the most popular actors in Hollywood. He has starred in several hit movies like The Mummy Returns (2001), The Other Guys (2010), several Fast & Furious films, the animated 2016 film, Moana, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), and the 2022 film, Black Adam, as reported by IMDb.
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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