Dwayne Johnson opens up about his mother's suicide attempt when he was just a teenager
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is spreading an important message about mental health and suicide — a topic that hits close to home.
The 45-year-old actor shared a photo from the set of his HBO show Ballers on Thursday morning, in which he’s holding a beer and toasting to his brother’s grave in a cemetery. “Not your typical scene,” he noted.
“Got me thinkin’ though bout how many of us have been affected by suicide of our friends, family,” Johnson captioned the shot. “Struggle and pain is real. We’ve all been there on some level or another.”
He then opened up his mother, Ata Johnson’s, own suicide attempt when he was just 15-years-old.
“She got outta the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic,” he recalled. “Big rigs and cars swerving outta the way not to hit her. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road.”
The wrestler-turned-movie star added, “What’s crazy about that suicide attempt is to this day, she has no recollection of it whatsoever. Probably best she doesn’t.”
Although Johnson admitted that he didn’t enjoy shooting the scene, it served as an important reminder to keep eye an out for those who are going through a tough time.
“Help ‘em thru it, get ‘em talkin’ about the struggle and remind ‘em that they’re not alone,” he said. “We got lucky that day when I was 15 and that ain’t always the case.”
Johnson previously told the frightening story in 2015 for OWN’s Oprah’s Master Class, saying that the incident occurred after his parents got into a fight while having lunch at a restaurant.
“In that moment, one of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned was how precious life is and how in an instant, it can all go away,” he said. “[It] changed me.”
Fortunately, Johnson’s 2-year-old daughter Jasmine Lia was around to put a smile on his face after a gruelling day on the set.
“After a very long and fatiguing day of work, the battle of wills between me and my baby, Jasmine Lia was just the mental therapy I needed,” he captioned a sweet video. “When she throws the cup and pretends to be sad… she’s rewriting the psychological chess game, that I thought I mastered. Think again daddy.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.
