Dwayne Johnson has detailed the nerve-racking health scare he had after discovering a lump on his left testicle.
During a new interview with Esquire, the 54-year-old actor, famously nicknamed “The Rock,” recalled noticing the lump when he was taking a shower. He made a doctor’s appointment two days later after hoping, to no avail, that the lump would get better.
“I didn’t even tell Lauren,” he said, referring to his wife of six years. “I didn’t want to worry her before I knew if it was anything to even worry about.”
The Moana star told the outlet that during his appointment, his doctor felt the lump and told him it was probably epididymitis, “an inflammation of the coiled tube at the back of the testicle,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
However, Johnson said that his doctor did warn him that the growth could be cancerous and urged him to have an ultrasound done. But since Johnson had a promotional event for his new Jumanji movie, alongside co-stars Kevin Hart and Jack Black, the test had to wait.
“So I had to live with that for those twenty-four hours, not knowing—and I had to be on all day, joking around, making speeches,” he added.
“By the way: I’m fine,” he said, confirming it was a case of epididymitis. “But I didn’t know that then, and the thing was really painful.”
The Smashing Machine star has spoken about his physical health issues in the past. During a 2025 appearance on The Mark Hyman Show, Johnson revealed that he had digestive tract problems for years.
“That was at the beginning of 2024, and I was just getting ready to launch into what would become a nine-month workload for me, nonstop work,” he said. “And I was thinking, ‘Holy s*** how am I going to get through this with my gut issues? I’m not digesting properly.’”
Host Dr. Mark Hyman said that the health issue occurred after Johnson took multiple rounds of antibiotics, which reduced the amount of Akkermansia — a bacterium that regulates the metabolism— in his body.
“We basically rehabbed your gut. Gave you probiotics and plant compounds—pomegranate, green tea, cranberry — to help rebuild,” Hyman said. “And we made you this amazing gut health shake with 10-plus ingredients personalized for you.”
Luckily, Johnson said he’s in a better place physically and emotionally, telling Esquire he’s “worked hard to just be at peace.”
“As dudes, as young men, teenagers, twenties, we’re trying to find ourselves. Then, in the thirties, that teenage bravado and confidence begins to wane because you’re like, Oh s***, I got to figure stuff out,” he said. “You hit your forties and you’re trying to figure who you are. Feels like you got your job locked down. Hopefully you got your family.
“But wait: Who am I? What’s my why? By the time I hit my fifth level—I’m fifty-three—I was working hard just to find what peace meant. Things in my world have become less presentational, less broadcast-y, more ‘I’m going to put in the work, and I’ll keep it as quiet as I can.’”
