Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson went from being a breakout WWE wrestler to becoming the highest-paid actor in the world as recently as last year, according to Business Insider.
He's cultivated his image as one of a consummate professional and esteemed gentleman. Though the public is just getting to know The Rock's current spouse, Lauren Hashian, she seems like a pretty chill lady!
Here are a few facts about her to know her better.
1. She dated The Rock for a long time before marriage.
Hashian and Johnson were dating for almost 10 years before they tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Hawaii, according to USA Today.
"My divorce did a number on me. I wasn’t fearful of getting married again, there was just some hesitancy," Johnson said. "But Lauren was incredibly patient: ‘I love you, you love me, we have this amazing life together – no presh.'" They had two children together before getting married.
2. She's the daughter of classic rock royalty.
Hashian is the daughter of Sib Hashian, drummer from the legendary band Boston (of "More Than A Feeling" fame). Although she grew up in a musical household, like many parents in the entertainment industry, her father discouraged her from pursuing music.
"We were a musical family, but he would constantly say things like, ‘You guys don’t want to get into this business,’ because he had faced a lot of challenges and a lot of distrust between some people he had worked with in the past," she told Coveteur.
"I grew up thinking that we wouldn’t go in that direction. I really thought that I would go off and get a normal nine-to-five," she added.
3. She became a musician anyway, despite her pops’ disapproval.
While in college, she got bit by the music bug. At Emerson College in Boston, where she graduated with a B.A. in public relations and communications, she formed a duo with a fellow classmate.
"Our school was big into the arts, and it supported kids’ creativity. There was a show called The Evvy Awards, and it was a version of the Grammys or the Emmy Awards. Myself and this kid who called himself ‘Reality’ recorded a song—I sang and he rapped—and we ended up winning the award that year, " she said.
"I felt really proud that we had been acknowledged and recognized for our writing, so that’s when I thought, ‘OK, maybe I should start seriously looking into this.’”
4. She has a deep appreciation for classic R&B.
Despite hailing from a Rock & Roll family, apparently it was the R&B of the 1980s and '90s that sparked Hashian's interest in music.
“I’ve always been drawn to the same type of music: beautiful R&B music. Being born in the ’80s and growing up in the ’90s, we had the best classic R&B groups—that’s when R&B was at its pinnacle. It stuck with me and my sister, so her and I started writing music together. It’s been 15 years that we’ve been writing music together, and we still write R&B." she said.
Hashian says she and her collaborators may dabble in other forms of art, but R&B would always be "the anchor of what we love to do."
Her music isn't too bad, either.
5. She's also been on TV.
According to IMDb, Hashian appeared on one episode of R U The Girl?. Some of us may remember that as the unusual reality competition show in 2005 where the remaining members of TLC (Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas) looked for a third member to join their group after the shocking death of trailblazing femcee Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in 2002. Hashian didn't win, but TLC still remains a two-member trio.
