The champions of the bodybuilding world have never gone down without a fight, and Phil Heath is a classic example of that. After winning the Olympia seven times in a row, he made a grand comeback one last time in 2020. But instead of crediting the eventful return to his zeal or desire to win more, he admitted that the reason for the move was his friend and former wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s encouraging words.
Heath’s recent documentary, ‘Breaking Olympia’ brought fans to tears over his struggles and achievements. He talked about the phenomenon in the recent episode of ‘The Menace Podcast’ with Dennis James, Milos Sarcev, and Chris Cormier. Recalling the reason that kickstarted the documentary and the ultimate trigger to the climax, Heath confessed how his return to the stage in 2020 was special.
After winning his seventh title in 2017, Heath took time off the stage to try and include some normalcy into his life. Revealing to the hosts about wanting to “be a civilian” for once, he admitted that being away from the competition still didn’t sit well with him.
Up until 2019, he was almost done working on the documentary with the help of Johnson and several others. However, they all noticed that the film was missing something that could potentially trigger a sense of hope and fight for everyone involved. That’s when the Hollywood star suggested Heath to give his comeback a shot.
“It was Dwayne that really changed my outlook on it, and he was like ‘Phil, you have yet done a show where people could just see you! You just need to let them see you in a vulnerable state’…”
The condition that Johnson laid to him was simple – no matter what the outcome of the competition was, Heath would wave, indicating goodbye. While he initially hesitated, he realized that it was probably for his own good to venture out to better fields.
“I just didn’t feel like it was for me. I just felt like being tied with Schwarzenegger is something that no one else can…”
As predicted, Heath’s comeback served as the perfect hook to the entire documentary since he did it for himself – a sentiment that resonated with fans. The response, he recalls, was overwhelmingly positive, and he knew he had to credit Johnson for adding the finishing touch to the story.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson also pushed Phil Heath to consider filming the documentary
While he was present in every step of the documentary creation, something lesser known was how Johnson was responsible for creating a spark that led to the ideation of the film. In an older Instagram post, Heath wistfully recalled how a productive workout session with his friend turned into a brainstorming session about the documentary.
The duo were a part of a fitness collaboration, working on their arms and performing some sets of preacher curls. But once the cameras cut, Johnson and Heath spoke about the prospects of following the latter on his bodybuilding journey and how it could be the next heart-touching piece of cinema. Years later, the documentary release was a massive hit and the productive day at the gym proved to be worth it.
