The Rock will come back to NBC. It has just been announced that the biographical sitcom Young Rock has been officially renewed for a third season at the network, guaranteeing more of Dwayne Johnson's story will be told. The network also renewed the shows Grand Crew and American Auto, each for a second season, while canceling Mr. Mayor and Kenan. NBC will also move forward with the George Lopez sitcom Lopez vs. Lopez as well as a Quantum Leap reboot.
Created by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang, Young Rock is inspired by the real life of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the years before he became the world's most popular movie star. It is set through three separate time periods, chronicling Johnson's young childhood, his teenage years, and his days at college. A fictional future is also imagined with Johnson serving as a presidential candidate, essentially serving as the narrator telling the stories about his life via flashbacks.
Adrian Groulx, Bradly Constant, and Uli Latukefu play Dwayne Johnson at different ages. The series also stars Stacey Leilua as mother Ata, Joseph Lee Anderson as father Rocky Johnson, Ana Tuisila as grandmother Lia Maivia, and Matthew Willig as Andre the Giant, a friend and mentor to 10-year-old Dwayne.
Different wrestling personalities have also appeared in the series as Johnson grew up in a family of pro wrestlers. This includes notable stars like The Iron Sheik (Brett Azar), Randy Savage (Kevin Makely), Sgt. Slaughter (Wayne Mattei), Mean Gene Okerlund (Dave T. Koenig), Ric Flair (Matthew Farrelly), Roddy Piper (Jade Drane), and Vince McMahon (Adam Ray).
Young Rock Explores Different Periods of Dwayne Johnson's Life
Khan previously spoke about why the series needed to be told in multiple time periods. From his early childhood and on, Johnson has had a pretty remarkable life, and Khan didn't feel that any of it was worth skipping over. Exploring these different time periods will allow more of Johnson's backstory to be explored, even if it makes Young Rock different from your traditional biopic. As Khan told Deadline last year:
"He’s had such a big life that, to me, just telling a linear story is sort of doing a little bit of disservice. I kind of wanted to jump around [in time], and he’s got the experiences to justify that.”
She added, "He’s one of those famous people on the planet. Even if you don’t really know that much about Dwayne Johnson, a lot of people have a cursory passing knowledge of who he is and what he’s done. But there’s so much that people don’t know about how he got to where he is. I think that’s what we’re interested in exploring … the surprising moments and the times where it was really tough for him and his family.”
There's going to be more to come with a third season. You can catch new episodes of Young Rock Tuesdays on NBC. The season finale is coming on May 24. There is not yet a premiere date for season 3.