Believe it or not, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is 43 years old today. Doesn’t look like it, and as further proof that he’s won the life lottery, look at the hot streak that he’s been on lately. He’s got both an HBO show (Ballers) and a potential blockbuster (San Andreas) on the horizon, Furious7 is an enormous hit, and he recently hosted one of this season’s best installments of Saturday Night Live, which he has hosted four times now.
Since his first hosting gig in 2000, Johnson has become one of SNL‘s most reliable hosts. With that in mind, let’s look at five of his best sketches.
The Rock Obama
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The premise here is simple, yet decidedly effective. President Obama is forced to hold in his rage while dealing with Republicans all-day, but eventually he can’t take it anymore, so he morphs into The Rock Obama. It’s a spot-on parody of The Incredible Hulk, right down to his shirt ripping off. It also may be worth noting this sketch first aired in 2009, meaning it beat Key & Peele‘s Anger Translator sketch to the punch by a good three years.
Bambi
From his most recent hosting gig, this sketch sees the classic Disney film Bambi re-imagined to be a lot more like the Fast & Furious films, as Bambi/The Rock goes on a quest to avenge his mother’s death, by engaging in an all-out war during a particularly brutal hunting season. this was a brilliant Fast & Furious parody, but let’s be honest; if this were a real movie, we would all be there on opening night.
Morning Latte
This recurring sketch features Cheri Oteri and Will Ferrell as a pair of air-headed morning show hosts who have no idea what’s going in the news, and routinely get the details as wrong as possible. This time, though, things are livened up a bit by the Rock’s presence, as the host’s are initially terrified by him, but eventually relax after they hear him sing a fantastic rendition of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” This was from Johnson’s first hosting gig, when he was still known exclusively for wrestling. Looking back, the charisma on display in this sketch seems like an early indicator of the success that he would have as an actor.
In Which He Sings About Being “Franchise Viagra”
Johnson has gained a well-deserved reputation for bringing new life into franchises that had once grown stagnant. We first saw this when he revived the Mummy franchise with 2002’s The Scorpion King, and his franchise-extending powers reached new heights when he joined the Fast & Furious crew and turned that series into an even bigger juggernaut than it had been before. In this monologue, he lets us know that he’s up to save many more franchises, envisioning a Zero Dark Thirty One, in which he vows to “kill Bin Laden’s ghost.”
Superman
If you’ve ever read a Superman comic, or watched any of the TV shows or movies based on the character, you may have wondered “wait, how is his secret identity not super obvious?” If so, this is the sketch for you. While at the Daily Planet, Clark Kent’s co-workers mock him behind his back for doing such a poor job of hiding his identity as Superman. At one point, we learned that he first called himself Supe R. Man, before changing it. In the comics, TV shows, and movies, it was necessary for no one to figure out what he was hiding. In real life, we might have found him out right away.
