Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Offers 'Encouraging' Advice to Cast of 'Young Rock' (Exclusive)

Young Rock recently premiered on NBC and fans can't get enough of the coming-of-age sitcom based on the life of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Considered the type of content we all need to kick off 2021, the new series from Johnson and Nahnatchka Khan of Fresh off the Boat, tells the story of the wrestler's rise to fame and life in a first-generation pro-wrestling family. While it's easy for fans to gush over the beloved actor, three of the cast members who play Johnson at various ages of his story have nothing but great things to say about him.

During an exclusive interview with the show's lead stars, Uli Latukefu, Bradley Constant and Adrian Groulx, the trio of cast members shared a sweet fraction of what Johnson shared with them to prepare for their roles. "I think for me — he said a lot, he was super encouraging, very encouraging, gave us insight into how he was at different stages of his life," Latukefu said in our series PopCulture @Home. "But for me, it was really just his vote of confidence to tell his story, which meant a lot to me just being able to go, 'We chose you.'"

In the series, Latukefu plays Johnson between the ages of 18 to 20, whereas Constant plays him in high school as a 15-year-old and young Groulx plays the superstar when he was around 10 years old. Most sweetly, Groulx revealed how Johnson sent the young actor a video of Johnson around the same age to give him an idea of who the Hollywood star was before fame and fortune. "He sent me a personal video and he was so nice. He was saying how great I did; he was saying that I did such a good job and that he was so glad to have me playing little Dwayne," Groulx said. "That just warmed my heart. I was in tears. I was just starstruck because of all this, again happening so early on in my career, so I was very honored."

As Young Rock being Constant's first television series, the actor admitted he and his castmates "had a little bit of nerves" because they're all playing a guy that they "respect so much." However, Constant did note that after he met with Johnson via Zoom and the 48-year-old helped calm his nerves. "Once we got to chat with him and meet with him, he really makes you feel comfortable and you really feel like you can find things that you can relate upon," he said.

Since its premiere last month, fans have seen four episodes as of now, but are still getting introduced to their characters. As for how the events in the series will pan out, Latukefu says the remainder of the show's debut season will get "a little deep" with some very "relatable" storylines. Young Rock can be seen Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streamed the next day on Peacock.