‘Young Rock’ Season 2 Finds Dewey Dealing With Unexpected Changes

One of TV’s most fun comedies is finally back with new episodes, as Young Rock season two returns to NBC Tuesdays at 8/7c. The sophomore run of the time-bending hit finds superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the verge of becoming elected president in 2032, while young Dewey must deal with his father’s success, high school Dewey is the new kid in town and Dwayne’s football dreams take an unexpected turn. The Young Rock cast spoke with The Root about what challenges Dewey and his family will face in season two.

The new season starts strong with episodes showcasing the entire family. Everyone finds themselves going through major changes, which helps the show evolve from some of its easier, repetitive jokes from its first season. We also get to see Dwayne Johnson play to his comedic strengths, adding another layer to his character and story. Overall, Young Rock takes a huge step forward for the imaginative family comedy.

As the new season resumes, Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas have just become the first Black WWE tag team champions, an exciting moment for the family, but success means less time for Dewey to spend with his dad. As much as Dewey idolizes his father, Rocky’s absence often leads to beautiful moments between Dwayne and his mother Ata. The relationship between teenage Dewey and his mom is one of actor Bradley Constant’s favorite aspects of his character.

“Coming back this season, I was really hoping to have more scenes that would show that special dynamic between Dwayne and his mom,” Constant said. “This season it really opens up a lot more, in my timeline especially, Dwayne really leaned on his mom. When things were really hard for him, she was always there. When he was lost, she always found him, kept him moving forward and always staying positive.”

As for the 20-year-old Dwayne, wrestling fans know he’s at the point in his life when his football career ends and he moves on to the family business, eventually becoming The Rock. This means Uli Latukefu had to learn to wrestle at the same time he was filming the show.

“We don’t actually jump into Dwayne becoming The Rock. Obviously, he had quite a transition from when he stopped playing football, so it was like it was parallel with my own learning how to wrestle,” Latukefu said. “In the storyline, Dwayne is learning how to get everything down pat, and so was I as an actor.”

Meanwhile, in little Dewey’s world, viewers can expect to get more of the sweet relationship between him and Andre the Giant. Both young actor Adrian Groulx and Matthew Willig–who plays Andre–expressed their love of playing this friendship and how it will continue to evolve as the series progresses.

“You will see some more of big Andre imposing his knowledge on little Dewey as he moves forward in life,” Willig said. “The stakes are getting higher, the things that little Dewey is worrying about…Andre has some things to say, and as we go along we see him help Dewey and set him straight.”

Playing a real person is never easy, let alone a larger-than-life superstar like The Rock, but Latukefu says Johnson gave them plenty of freedom in how they portrayed his life, though he did want to make sure his work ethic was part of the story.

“He gave us a lot of freedom. The number one thing for me throughout our conversations, particularly in his younger years, he was very driven,” Latukefu said. “He was very focused about achieving something. He wasn’t too sure about what that was or what that looked like, but he knew he was in for something great and he was willing to put in the work.”

Young Rock airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC, with episodes streaming on Peacock after broadcast.