the rock- has anyone ever been this popular/famous with such a crappy resume

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He's a likeable dude

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this is really the answer, as he might be the most charismatic celebrity of all time. it's really remarkable how successful he is based on his filmography.

Ballers isn't a bad show. Walking Tall was watchable. sure he doesnt have range, but he doesnt need it because he's fun to watch

Most charismatic celebrity of all time? As in from wrestling I hope

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He was big time before even appeared in those sequels..

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yes he was. and ballers is trash. walking tall wasn't bad, but it's a completely forgettable movie and that wasn't a star-making role.

You forgot Snitch, which is up there with The Rundown, and Gridiron Gang, which is another solid movie along the lines of Walking Tall.

As for his appeal, you have to remember he was already a megastar before he even started making films. I don't watch wrestling, but even I knew who he was when he was a WWE star. He had many millions of fans before he ever hit a theater, and all of those fans sought out his movies once he started making them.

As for not having a signature character like Sly or Arnold, The Rock is that character. It's why every movie he's in has such a high floor at the box office, because all of those fans for almost 20 years will give anything he does a chance.

Then, he started off strong, turning The Scorpion King into a solid action hit, and surprising everyone in The Rundown making that a cult hit and oozing charisma in a fun buddy action comedy.

He followed those up with Walking Tall and Gridiron Gang showing that he could pull off more dramatic roles as well, and stole the show in a supporting comedic role in Be Cool, showing more range in his first few years than most 80s action stars did in their entire careers.

He then expanded his exposure and appeal to a whole new generation with family flicks like The Gameplan and The Tooth Fairy, knowing his fans from the WWE had kids and could build a bridge to that future generation of moviegoers. While I never saw either, both were hits and made him a known name to kids that would be teenagers for his next wave of projects over the next decade.

And he really showed his box office drawing power, especially internationally, when he took the FF franchise to heights it never imagined with Fast 5. You can say it was already a popular franchise, but F5 is without question one of the top 2 installments, and completely changed the expectation for what these movies were. His drawing power helped to double the previous box office record of the franchise and turned it into the over the top must see spectacle of a franchise it has become today that continues growing in popularity and scale.

And while the FF franchise and movies like San Andreas and GI Joe, another franchise that found great box office success with his name attached, show he is a modern day action hero, he still moves effortlessly into darker roles like Pain and Gain, and comedy fare like Central Intelligence, scene stealing parts like The Good Guys, and is steady enough to carry a series like Ballers.

On top of all of that, like many have said, he just seems to be a genuinely good dude that people root for and enjoy seeing on screen.

And that likability and charisma helped him become an animated voice star as well, with a supporting star turn in the monster hit Moana that was up there with the greats like Robin Williams in Aladdin, Nathan Lane in Lion King, Eddie Murphy in Shrek, etc.

Smart choices like that, along with the upcoming Jumanji reboot, will only connect him to yet another generation that will be buying tickets over the next couple of decades keeping him at the forefront of the box office for years to come.

So while he may not have a classic like Rambo/Teeminator/Die Hard on his resume, I think saying that "every movie he's in is garbage" is pretty untrue, and Fast 5 isn't far off from an action classic.

When you add in movies like Rundown, Snitch, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, and Scorpion King, it isn't hard to see why people have confidence when they spend their money on his movies at the box office that they will be entertained.

He was funny in Get shorty, or Be Cool... one of those as the secretly gay enforcer

It's perfect timing. He came along and hit it big during the simple minded short attention span generation.

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Tiger Voodoo

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Big Rock fan I see....Damn...

He's an extremely likeable guy who came at the exact right moment. The big action stars have been getting old, and the heir apparent were flaming out.