Cari Champion on Working With Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson: He Has ‘It’ (Exclusive)

Cari Champion has interviewed and worked with a number of celebrities in her career. However, the former ESPN personality is currently working alongside the arguably biggest celebrity in the world — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — as they are co-hosts on NBC‘s The Titan Games. PopCulture.com got a chance to speak with Champion about her experience on The Titan Games, and she said Johnson has the one thing that makes him a superstar.

“When DJ walks in that area, he has ‘it’ and you can feel it, it’s palpable,” Champion told PopCulture. “And it’s not a cocky ‘it,’ it’s the reaction that people have to him, and he has towards them as well. It really does make or break their day, and they enjoy it. He reacts to that. He appreciates that. He consumes that energy because it really means something. At the same time, it doesn’t go to his head.” Champion, who worked with Johnson on the first season of The Titan Games, also revealed what catches her attention when watching Johnson interact with everyone. “One of the biggest things that I was respecting of he’s the biggest superstar in the world and has a level head,” Champion added.

Johnson is not only one of the biggest stars in the world, but he’s also one of the busiest. While filming The Titan Games, Johnson was also working on the Netflix film Red Notice with Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. He’s also playing the lead role in the DC Flim Black Adam. His new film Jungle Cruise will be released next year. In 2019, Johnson was featured in three films – Fighting with My Family, Hobbs & Shaw and Jumanji: The Next Level — and all three were big box office hits.

With Johnson putting together a strong resume in Hollywood, one would think he will be very serious all the time. But Champion said when you get the know him, he’s a very easy person to be around. “I’ve interviewed a lot of stars over the years,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of people and at the end of the day they end up being a lot like you in terms of just basic, kind people if you can get past all of who they appear to be. DJ goes out of his way to be comfortable and jokes with us.”