Yves Delhommeau, the managing director of Musee Grevin in Paris, declares that his team went back to work on it so that 'it better represents' the wrestler-turned-Hollywood legend.
- October 26, 2023
AceShowbiz - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's wax figure has been updated following the "whitewashing" controversy. Yves Delhommeau, the managing director of Musee Grevin, declared that his team went back to work on it so that "it better represents" the "Black Adam" leading man.
"A week ago, we unveiled the Dwayne Johnson waxwork and we got a surprise when we put him under the lights," Yves said in a video shared on Wednesday, October 25. "His skin tone seemed too pale. And suddenly we realized, we might have got it wrong."
Acknowledging that the figure garnered "widespread attention, Yves explained, "Painting on wax is very complicated. It's a long process, like oil painting. They worked on his skin texture using photos." He added, "And we know that Dwayne Johnson looks very different from one photo to the next."
"We're going to work on this amazing waxwork so it better represents him," Yves further elaborated. "It's been a major task for the sculptor. We're going to keep improving it!"
Meanwhile, the museum's head of PR, Veronique Berecz, told Variety, "We found his reaction rather friendly when addressing the fact that his figure was indeed whiter than it should have been." Veronique continued, "Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet Dwayne Johnson so we used several photos - but as it turns out, pictures can be very tricky because the nuances of skin tones can differ depending on the lighting on photos."
"Every time, the sculptor has to determine the exact face and body shapes, the volumes and it's always a very complicated challenge if we haven't met the person," she additionally shared.
The Rock himself has suggested that he too wasn't entirely happy with his waxwork. "For the record, I'm going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grevin Musem, in Paris, France so we can work at 'updating' my wax figure with some important details and improvements - starting with my skin colour," he penned on Instagram.
"And next time I'm in Paris, I'll stop and have a drink with myself," the "Fast and Furious" added. He wrote his message alongside a video of comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. joking about the lookalike.
