THE ROCK'S DYNAMIC STUNT DOUBLE - TANOAI REED!

 The Chosen One who helps The Great One...

I had no idea that this guy existed until this week. Most fans that have trailed Dwayne Johnson's dynamic career since his days as "Flex Kavana / Rocky Maivia" in the WWF have beheld him as a sensational in-ring performer, a tier-one athlete and eventually the most electrifying man / wrestler to ever make the crossover to big screen movies.

And for some strange reason, wrestling fans that are young at heart view their on-screen heroes as almost indestructible and completely above immense bodily harm. But since most of the top Hollywood actors/actresses are actually analogous to priceless artifacts worthy of preservation, even The Rock has someone that commonly stands in for him when it is time to plummet down from 20 stories or crash through a solid barrier. That chosen one is Tanoai Reed; and like The Rock, he has a stunning physique and also has Samoan blood in his veins.

Born in 1974 in Honolulu Hawaii, the 37-year-old Tanoai has been doing his thing for a while, and he's actually the cousin of the Rock [who was born in 1972; Dwayne is 39 years old].
Having grown up in a beach rimmed area, Tanoai's innate fondness of the water was expressed in his earliest stuntman jobs. Back in 1995, he did stunts for the blockbuster movie Waterworld [an almost 4-hour flick that was cut down dramatically to about 2 hours for the theatrical release... which sucked unfortunately]. And that same year, Tanoai did a host of stunts for the TV series Baywatch Nights.

Note: The costumed guy in the "Goofy pic" above [placed at the head of the article] is NOT Tanoai Reed in disguise. This is Tanoai:

As far as helping to stand-in for the The Rock, that substitution began back in 2002 when The Great One starred in the movie The Scorpion King.
Other movies that Tanoai has helped to perform stunts for The Rock include:

• The Rundown (2003)
• Walking Tall (2004)
• Be Cool (2005)
• Gridiron Gang (2006)
• The Game Plan (2007)
• And most recently, Fast Five (2011)

His professional acting resume is longer than that, but those are the flicks in which he has helped to represent Dwayne in rugged & brutal sequences. I think he even got the tattoo on his right bicep so that he looks more like Dwayne when they both have to wear short-sleeved t-shirts in tough action scenes. Tanoai also had a career back in 2008 as one of the New American Gladiators on a popular TV show that keeps getting resurrected every few years. His battle/warrior name on the AG Show was Toa.

Despite the fact that they sport different tattoos, there is a sharp resemblance that they share per their skin tones and physiques. Not sure if they work-out in the same gym or if they hang out as buddies. Yet I'm sure that they trust one another like brothers, since Dwayne constantly relies on his cousin to help out when the action scenes get a bit too crazy. Plus Tanoai gets paid to put his ass on the line for the Rock, so its all good.

 

Above: The Rock as Mathayus back in 2002 [on the left] and Tanoai [on the right]. When they're running / moving at high speed, you really can't tell them apart, from a distance. And if you are unaware of Tanoai's existence, you'll always believe its Rocky that you're watching, "laying the Smackdown" on the big screen...

Here are some behind-the-scenes pics from the 2011 movie Fast Five, showing the Rock, Tanoai, the cool Hummer / Tank / Armored SUV and some other people. The first pic shows Dwayne Johnson, and the very next image is Tanoai Reed [standing with Vin Diesel's stunt double].

 

 

And as for the last pic... I'm sorry Minnie Mouse; you can dream, but its just NOT gonna happen.

Check out the previous blog article on the 2011 Fast Five Movie Review: http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com/2011/05/fast-five-movie-gets-two-thumbs-up.html

And the Article on the forthcoming G.I. JOE 2 Movie, slated for 2012: http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com/2011/06/great-one-dwayne-johnson-joins-cast-of.html

Both articles feature more of The Rock!
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DSNG Sci Fi Blog Homepage: http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com/