Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on Paul Walker death: ‘I started bawling’

The Fast and the Furious actor recalls the moment he found out his friend and colleague had died

US actor Dwayne Johnson 'The Rock' poses for pictures on the red carpet as he arrives for the 'G I Joe: Retaliation' (Getty Images)

Dwayne, 'The Rock' Johnson was driving with his girlfriend Lauren Hashian when he found out that his friend and colleague, Paul Walker, had been killed in a fatal car crash.

Walker was the passenger in Roger Rodas’ Porsche Carrera GT when the vehicle crashed into trees and a pole and burst into flames on 30 November last year. The 40-year-old actor is survived by his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow.

“I was driving with Lauren when she immediately turned very quiet and was looking at me, studying, wondering if I knew,” he recalled.

“I pulled over and looked at my messages and had a moment where I just caught my breath. We said a prayer right then to give his daughter strength — because we had talked about our daughters.

“That's what we would talk about. Both of us were divorced, and we talked about the power of being a dad and the strong connection of a dad and his girl. Then once we got home, we started bawling.”

Johnson – who was last week the subject of a death hoax – has suffered from depression in the past, the first bout of which was triggered by injuries which prevented him from pursuing his initial career in football.

“I didn't want to do a thing,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I didn't want to go anywhere. I was crying constantly. Eventually you reach a point where you are all cried out.”

“I didn't know what it was,” he continued.

“I didn't know why I didn't want to do anything. I had never experienced anything like that.”

Johnson’s latest film, Hercules, in which he stars in the title role, will be released in the UK on 25 July.