Though Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his ex-wife Dany Garcia continue to have a healthy relationship following their divorce after 16 years of marriage, the award-winning actor admitted that their separation at the time took a mental toll on him.
Per E! News, Johnson and Garcia separated in 2007. The 53-year-old stated that besides their separation, it was difficult to envision how their family was going to adjust as they share a daughter who is now 24 years old.
“When you guys get married, as a few of you may know, you sign up for the long haul, but then it doesn’t always work out like that,” he said on the November 6 episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “And then it rocks you like it rocked me. And we had a baby, and what kind of father was I going to be?”
Johnson said that the situation took a toll on his mental health. “At that time I was really going through it,” he recalled. “That was another bout of depression.”
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The 53-year-old said that he ultimately decided to feature in happier movies while he was trying to figure his stuff out during that period.
“I was trying to figure my stuff out, and that was the only thing that I really wanted to do artistically,” he stated. “I didn’t want anything that was going to challenge me to rip my guts out, I wanted stuff that has a happy ending, and so that’s what that was.”
He also said that he still loved “making those movies.” “I also think I manifested those because I don’t think I was ready for anything other than easy, light, family films that made me feel good,” he added.
Johnson is currently married to Lauren Hashian, and they share two daughters aged 9 and 6. And though he and Garcia are no longer together, the former couple still have a working relationship as she is his manager and they are producing partners for their Seven Bucks Productions company, E! News reported.
“While marriage wasn’t in our cards, we did realize, ‘Well, wait a second, we’re building something that’s pretty cool,'” Johnson said. “‘Marriage may not be in our cards but building business can be.’ And that took time.”
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