One only needs to take one glance at the hulking stature of The Rock to feel profoundly intimidated. But the big man knows the dramatic effect he has on people and knows just how to keep them calm - with a giant smile on his face. Does this beast of a man even need a stuntman to fill in for him? The answer is yes. It takes a special kind of stuntman however, one who shares his own genes - his equally big cousin.
It has to be familia. Because no one else can fit into The Rock's boots and pull of those incredibly hard to perform stunts. Meet Tanoai Reed, he looks just like Dwayne and happens to be his real life cousin.
The hulking man was born in Hawaii and measures at 6 feet 2 inches. Shy of only 2 inches of the Rock's comparatively larger frame, but an imposing figure nonetheless. He is two years younger than The Rock age 41 years old.
This entire article will be chronicling Tanoai's life and will be focusing less on The Rock (even though we find it tempting to expound upon The Rock's life instead). Tanoai has featured in every single one of his cousin's films since 2002.
He even starred in The Rock's debuts with 2002's hit flick, The Scorpion King which launched The Rock's imposing frame into the limelight. Tanoai has since been working as a stuntman for over 20 years, with his debut in 1995.
It takes one to know one. And Tanoai has actually been married to a stuntwoman called Suzanne Reed since 1999. They have a son together, Samson. It seems that having an action packed job runs in Samson's family.
Of course no job is without its disadvantages, and a stunt job is obviously no walk in the park, especially when it involves The Rock. Tanoai admitted once that his action packed job has taken its toll on him.
He said in an interview to Scout, "I'm jumping off buildings, getting hit by cars and crashing stuff. My body is 43 years old but I feel like I'm 83 sometimes. It seems Tanoai has had his fair share of ups and downs.
Both cousins need to hit the gym every day and go through strenuous exercise routines which would knock the wind out of the regular folks. As can be seen in this picture, it takes a lot of hard work to get to where they're at.
As can be seen from the following pictures, both the blokes are incredibly close and have been like two peas in a pod since day one. It seems they never quarrel, never have a fight and have no hate for each other.
Although Tanoai and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have starred in dozens of films together, the stuntman has other roles to fill in too. For instance, he has performed as Kevin Hart's stuntman in the movie Central Intelligence.
Reed is the great nephew to The Rock's grandmother, Lia Maivia. Together they are part of the famous Anao'i wrestling family. Their history goes generations back. Although not a professional wrestler, Reed has been a gladiator on American Gladiators.
The reason why it is so easy for Tanoai to fill these roles is because of one simple fact. He shares much of the same physical features with The Rock. And while Dwayne gets to enjoy the spotlight, Tanoai is happy in the backdrop.
We do tend to wonder if it actually is fair to Tanoai to be the shadow of his older cousin, Dwayne. Is he content? Does he ever feel jealous? Don't the trolls make his life miserable by constantly comparing him to his cousin?
Although Tanoai is not as popular as his immensely larger than life cousin, Dwayne, he doesn't let it get to his head. He pushes through the pain and manages to impress everyone present both on the set and on the screen.
We hope that both of them will remain good friends for the long haul and continue to operate as a single, cohesive unit without any detrimental effects to their partnership. After all, who else could fill in the Rock's boots other than his very own cousin?
