Dwayne Johnson honors amputee community with 'Skyscraper'

Actor Dwayne Johnson attends the "Skyscraper" premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Actor Dwayne Johnson attends the "Skyscraper" premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK -- Dwayne Johnson hopes to honor the amputee community by playing a former FBI agent with a prosthetic leg in the new action thriller "Skyscraper."

In the film, Johnson plays the security consultant of a Hong Kong skyscraper who must save his family and the city from harm when it becomes engulfed in flames. The problem is intensified when he's framed for starting the blaze.

"I was honored to play an amputee, and to make sure that I did right by them," Johnson said on the red carpet for the film's US premiere Tuesday night. "The research was very extensive. I spent a lot of time with amputees."

One of those he consulted joined Johnson at the premiere: Jeff Glasbrenner, a Paralympian who became the first American amputee to successfully climb Mount Everest in 2016. Johnson called him "an amazing man."

Of the film, he added: "There's two sides to this. One is a big spectacle, big summer fun. The other side is making sure that we paid homage and respect to amputees around the world."

Entertainment on 07/12/2018

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