What do you do when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson calls and says he doesn’t want you to audition—he just wants you to be AJ Lee in a major motion picture?
Zelina Vega recently appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet and opened up about the unexpected and surreal moment she was cast as former WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee in the 2019 film Fighting With My Family—a decision that came straight from none other than The Rock himself.
Before she was Zelina Vega, WWE Superstar and Queen of the ring, Thea Trinidad had acting ambitions that ran just as deep as her wrestling dreams. As she explained in the interview, her path into the squared circle was always the priority, but that didn’t mean Hollywood was out of the question—especially when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson got involved.
“So he [The Rock] knew for a while that I wanted to do acting, because I was doing acting before I started wrestling, because I thought that’s what you had to do,” Vega recalled. “I loved any kind of backstage or vignettes or in-ring promos. I loved that, and he was like the godfather of it.”
Vega went on to describe how The Rock had encouraged her to pursue acting more seriously, even suggesting at one point that the film industry might be a more natural fit for her talents. But her heart was still in the ring.
“I’m like, ‘100% sure wrestling first and foremost, but I’d love to do acting at some point too.’ He was like, ‘Okay.’ And then eventually he’s like, ‘I have the perfect blending of the worlds for you right now.'”
According to Vega, the moment came at a time when she had all but sworn off the entertainment business. But then came the call that changed everything.
“He calls me, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I got this thing…’ The funny thing is, I don’t remember exactly how the conversation went, because I remember a sinking feeling the more he talks. I was like, Oh my God, I feel like something big is coming, and I don’t know what it is yet. Then he’s like, ‘So we’re doing this movie. It’s a documentary that they had on Paige’s life and her family… and I need you to be my Divas Champion.'”
It was a moment Vega describes as almost too surreal to comprehend. “Can you repeat what you just said? Because it sounds like you offered me a role just now, but I’m not 100% that’s what you said.”
Not only was the role real, but The Rock made it clear she didn’t even have to audition. He had already seen enough to know she was perfect for the part.
“I already know that you can do it, you’re gonna be my Divas Champion,” he told her.
The rest, as they say, is history. Vega would go on to portray AJ Lee in one of the film’s most pivotal scenes—Paige capturing the WWE Divas Championship in her main roster debut. And while Zelina has carved her own path in WWE, her performance in Fighting With My Family proved that her range extends far beyond the ropes.
As Vega noted, she dedicated herself to capturing AJ’s voice and presence, studying her mannerisms “to exhaustion.”
It’s a behind-the-scenes story worthy of a movie itself—fitting, considering it was The Rock who helped bring it all full circle.
You can check out the complete interview with Zelina Vega on Insight With Chris Van Vliet below.
(h/t Alex Hunt and Chris Van Vliet for the transcriptions/quotes.)
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