Despite given how well he fit into the world of the Fast & The Furious, providing a bulked-up, sweat-glistening Mr Darcy to Vin Diesel’s Elizabeth Bennett in Fast Five (you know that reading of the movie makes sense), Dwayne Johnson isn’t back solely in the action genre. In fact, he’s looking to stretch himself further than usual, signing on to produce and star in a biopic of country music star Charley Pride.
Pride, who’s still alive and kicking (and announced the plan for the film to the Telegraph-Journal of Canada’s New Brunswick, which was then picked up by Variety), is in the Country Music Hall of Fame and was born in Mississippi in a family that included 11 kids.
Known for his smooth baritone pipes, he’s had 39 number-one hits in his career and saw his acclaim peak in the 1970s when he became the best-selling performer at RCA Records since a certain hip-wiggler called Elvis Presley. Though he initially found success in baseball, he was encouraged to join the music business and the rest is history.
Despite huge success, he’s struggled with manic depression, but enjoyed a relatively stable family life, staying married to his wife Rozene since 1956.
There’s no word on when the film will actually get moving, but fans of the artist who encourages us all to Bring It can find him Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Snitch, the latter of which is set to start shooting shortly.