(Paris) The wax statue of American star Dwayne Johnson, nicknamed “The Rock”, will be reinstalled Wednesday morning at the Grévin museum in Paris, with a more realistic complexion, modified in 24 hours, the actor having complained about the “skin color” of the first version, Yves Delhommeau, general director of the museum, told AFP on Tuesday.
“We took his character off Monday night. Our art artisans strengthened her complexion during the night and throughout this day,” he added. “Dwayne Johnson promised us […] to stop by the museum during his next trip to Paris. Let’s have a nice glass of wine together! We can make any corrections he may still wish to make. »
“We worked for over a year on the character of Dwayne Johnson, particularly to reproduce his very complicated tattoos. We helped ourselves with photos, because Dwayne could not travel to Paris to finalize his statue,” Mr. Delhommeau further clarified.
The Rock had announced that his team would contact the Grévin Museum in order to update his wax statue and correct important elements, “starting with the color of [his] skin”. His wax double actually appears pale, compared to the real appearance of the actor born in the United States to an African-Canadian father and a mother from Samoa.
The director of the Grévin museum specified that the lighting would also be reworked, “because there was a question of light which lightened his skin texture”. “He will come to us later to see if there are any additional changes that need to be made,” he added.
Dressed in a short-sleeved polo shirt and navy blue pants, the actor’s character has Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney and even Meryl Streep as neighbors.
His induction into the famous French wax museum was decided with the “Grévin Awards”, awarded according to the vote of Internet users invited to nominate their favorite celebrity.
The star, of African-American origins and from the Samoan Islands, joined on Sunday the concert of mockery around the statue in her likeness, unveiled in mid-October by the museum and presenting her with a fair complexion.
“Please know that I will be asking my team to contact our friends at the Grevin Museum, in Paris, France, so that we can work on “updating” my wax statue with important details and improvements – starting with the color of skin,” he wrote on his Instagram account followed by more than 391 million people around the world.
“You make The Rock look like David Beckham. Looks like The Rock is about to become part of the royal family. I’m slightly offended,” American comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. also mocked, upon discovering the first version of the statue in a video re-shared by the actor.
The Grévin museum, which welcomes 800,000 visitors per year and features more than 250 celebrities, had already sparked controversy in 2018 by presenting a sculpture, not very successful by its own admission, with the likeness of Emmanuel Macron.
Making one of these wax statues takes six months and costs between 50,000 and 60,000 euros ($73,000 and $87,000).
