Born in the Philippines and raised in Hawaii, Bretman explained that his father, a dedicated wrestling fan, and his uncle were the ones who decided on the name. "My dad and his twin brother, my uncle... they were really obsessed with wrestling. And they were like, we should name him Bretman Rock. And it's from Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart and you. So I was named after you," Bretman told Johnson.

Johnson expressed his surprise and admiration, stating, “No way. What? You're doing so good, man. You're kicking ass. You have a gazillion followers. It's just amazing. And I did not know that.”

Bretman shared that this revelation was long overdue. “I waited 27 years to tell you that," he told the actor. He also humorously recounted his father's conviction that he was raising the next "The Rock," leading him to try various sports.

“I mean, thanks to you, I had to do all the sports in the world. Because my dad really was convinced that he had the next Rock. So I did football, baseball, track. None of them stuck. And I just came out like this,” Bretman said, with photos of him participating in different sports displayed.

“I mean, The Rocks are always famous. I feel like all The Rocks are always sexy. So, period. I'm glad my dad knew what he was doing,” he added.

During the interview, Bretman also connected with the film Moana on a personal level, having been raised by his grandmother. "I really love the fact that Moana loves her grandma so much. Me being rasied by my grandmother, that really hit me," he said.

Johnson echoed similar sentiments regarding the importance of grandmothers and cultural pride. "I did not know that. In a lot of ways, my grandmother stepped in when we were having some challenging times here in Hawaii. And just those grandma values. I also love in our film that we are just so deeply proud of our culture and wanting to make sure that our Polynesian cultures are properly represented," he replied.

Bretman later posted on Instagram about the encounter, captioning photos from the interview, "Rock ². My Parents are not gonna believe this one. After years of shooting my shot in the DMs."

Audition for Hei Hei

Following the announcement of the live-action Moana film in 2023, Bretman Rock sent a humorous audition tape to Dwayne Johnson via Instagram for the role of Hei Hei. In the video, Bretman presented his chicken, stating, "Hey, The Rock, it is I, Bretman Rock and this is one of my chickens. Today, I'm going to be doing a live audition. I understand that my last audition was a voice audition, and I understand that the new movie is a live-action, so I'm sure you would want a Hei Hei that can act."

"So yeah, let me know. I really feel like it's time for Māhū representation and I feel like Moana was lacking that. I really feel like a gay chicken makes so much sense, so the decision is up to you. The ball is in your court," Bretman said to Johnson in the audition tape.

The live-action Moana is scheduled to be released in Philippine theaters on July 10. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as Maui and Catherine Laga'aia as Moana.

Featured names

• Bretman Rock
• The Rock Dwayne
• Dwayne Johnson
• Catherine Laga
• The Rock Dwayne
• Rodrigo Duterte
• Moana Camille