Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has reflected on the emotional toll of his 2007 divorce from Dany Garcia, saying the experience “rocked” him and led to a difficult period of depression.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast on November 6, the Smashing Machine actor said ending his 16-year marriage was painful, especially as he worried about how it would affect their daughter, Simone, now 24.

When you get married, you sign up for the long haul, but it doesn’t always work out like that,” Johnson said. “And then it rocks you like it rocked me. And we had a baby, and what kind of father was I going to be?”

Johnson revealed that the breakup left him battling depression. “At that time I was really going through it. That was another bout of depression,” he admitted.

The actor, now married to Lauren Hashian since 2019 and father to daughters Jasmine, 9, and Tiana, 6, said the experience pushed him toward lighter, family-friendly films such as The Game Plan and Tooth Fairy.

I was trying to figure my stuff out, and that was the only thing I really wanted to do artistically,” he explained. “I didn’t want anything that was going to challenge me to rip my guts out — I wanted stuff that had a happy ending.”

Despite the pain that inspired the shift, Johnson said he has no regrets. “I loved making those movies,” he said. “I think I manifested those because I wasn’t ready for anything other than easy, light, family films that made me feel good.”