Black Adam Star Jalon Christian On How The Rock Got His Slimmed-Down Appearance In The Movie - Exclusive

Following his turn in the title role of director Denzel Washington's emotional drama "A Journal for Jordan" in 2021, actor Jalon Christian's good fortunes are continuing with his latest film, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's new blockbuster hit "Black Adam." Christian not only appears in the film's crucial opening scene, but his character also figures prominently in key flashbacks throughout the film.

The DC Extended Universe film stars Johnson as Teth-Adam, a fearsome antihero awakened from his tomb 5,000 years after using his godlike powers for revenge against the Egyptian-like nation of Kahndaq. Christian plays the pivotal role of Hurut, a young boy whose selfless choice during an uprising in Kahndaq sets Teth-Adam on his rampage against the nation, which is led by a tyrannical ruler, King Ahk-Ton (Marwan Kenzari).

Fans will come to discover in "Black Adam" that Teth-Adam was not born with his powers but was a mere mortal until they were bestowed upon him. That meant a much leaner version of Johnson was required for some of his scenes with Christian before the actor transforms into the brawny form of the vengeful antihero. Christian shared the secret of how Johnson's unique look was achieved in an exclusive interview with Looper.

In Jalon Christian and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's first scene together in "Black Adam," audience members may be stunned to see a much different version of the former WWE superstar than they're used to. While Johnson is as committed an actor as they come, he didn't resort to the Tom Hanks "Cast Away" method to lose weight and muscle to shoot the scenes. 

Instead, Christian said, the production — helmed by director Jaume Collet-Serra — resorted to employing an additional actor and a bit of movie magic to create Johnson's slimmed-down appearance. "I filmed most of my scenes with another actor, whose name is Benjamin [Patterson], and they would put white dots on his face to calibrate it," Christian told Looper. "They would have him do the scene with me, then have The Rock do it so that they could calibrate The Rock's face onto his body before The Rock becomes Black Adam."

In addition to seeing the visual effects work happen right before his eyes, Christian said he was fascinated by watching Johnson's process as an actor while they were on set together and learning from it.

"[At] certain times we would joke around and talk to each other, but there were also times where he was very into the character and in the moment," Christian said. "Some actors are very method and love to be in their characters at all times; some actors work a different way. To be able to observe his process definitely helped me be able to work on my performance."

Also starring Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi, Quintessa Swindell, and Noah Centineo, "Black Adam" is new theaters.