Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Surprises Mother With New Home for Christmas

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson surprised his mother with a new home for Christmas, and shared a video of the moment she found out on Instagram Saturday.

In the clip, Johnson’s mother Ata Johnson sits in front of their Christmas tree reading a letter from the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star. As she read the letter, Ata broke down in tears, but she quickly began laughing when Johnson’s daughter, Jasmine, interrupted the scene. Johnson then walked into the camera to hug his mom.

“This one felt good. Surprise! Bought my mom a new home for Christmas,” Johnson wrote in the caption. “All our lives growing up we lived in little apartments all across the country. Lived like gypsies on the road from one state to another. The first home my parents ever lived in was the one I bought for them in 1999. They divorced about 5yrs later and as with life, stuff happens and things got a little complicated.”

Johnson said he has been making sure his parents have everything they need since their divorce, but the house was more special than anything else he got for her.

“I told her to treat this card like it’s ‘Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket’ because she gets to choose any home she wants – anywhere she wants,” Johnson explained. “I always say, if you got a good mama, then you gotta pretty good shot at becoming a decent human being. And somehow, somewhere along the line I became one lucky SOB to be able to make stuff like this happen. Merry Christmas Ma and WOOOHOOO enjoy your new home.”

Johnson has never been shy about discussing the importance of family in his life, especially when it comes to his mother. On Mother’s Day in May, Johnson paid tribute to the sacrifices she made to make sure he grew up into a “good man.”

“It’s incredible when I think about what this woman has been through. What she’s had to overcome. Like so many mothers out there, sacrificing so much to do her best to raise a good (most of the time;) boy into a good man,” Johnson wrote at the time. “My gratitude, love and respect is boundless.”

One reason why Johnson always makes sure to take care of his family is because memories of tough times are still fresh for him. In April, he revealed that his mother attempted suicide after they were evicted from their Nashville apartment.

“She got out of the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic,” Johnson told Express in April. “I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road.”

Johnson said her mother has “no recollection” of the attempt, adding that it is “probably best she didn’t.”

For Johnson though, memories like that and his own personal battle with depression have made him realize the importance of helping others.

“We both healed but we’ve always got to do our best to pay attention when other people are in pain,” the action star said at the time. “We have to help them through it and remind them they are not alone.”

Johnson’s next movie, Stephen Merchant’s comedy Fighting With My Family, opens on Feb. 14.

Photo credit: Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images