If you grew up on your grandmother's knee you might recall a story about a king who was turned into a rock.
Now, straight out of Hollywood, comes a happier tale... of a rock that has turned into -- well, not a king, but close -- a chief.
'It was a life changing moment for me,' Dwayne Johnson, Hollywood's tough guy known as The Rock, told People magazine.
On his recent visit to Samoa, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, king of his mother Ata's native island, anointed the star of The Scorpion King (2002) a high chief.
'It clarified my ties to the royal family when the title was bestowed,' said the wrestler turned actor, who is half black and half Samoan. 'It was an incredible life-changing moment that I will never forget.'
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'You will leave your boyish ways behind you, as you are now a chief of the Seiuli family, a chief of Samoa,' the king told the newly decorated chief.
'When I heard those words, I was moved. It's way deeper than an honorary title. It's blood,' said Johnson, 32, who has donated nearly $50,000 to causes in Samoa.
Johnson's visit to the South Pacific island was his first since childhood.
'I've never cried so much. Never in a million years did I expect that to happen. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The people there are so untouched and uninfluenced by Western culture,' he said.
A former footballer, Johnson lost a place in the National Football League after a back injury in 1995. A year later he turned his attention to wrestling and later acting. He most recently played the lead in Kevin Bray's Walking Tall and has a number of films lined up for the next two years.
