Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

Working on a movie like San Andreas can be a serious wake-up call, even for action star Dwayne Johnson, who has made a career of facing screen peril.

Earthquakes strike fear in ''The Rock.''

"The most incredible thing I found out doing the research was just how overdue for a massive earthquake we are. Like 100 years overdue. It's incredible, and scary as hell," says Johnson. "It sounds like a movie line, but it's a matter of when, not if."

Audiences are also overdue for the first full-on Earth-trembler film since 1974'sEarthquake, with Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. San Andreas (out May 29) centers around catastrophic events in California, which have consequences for the nation.

"We're going to show what the largest earthquake ever recorded would look like, all in a highly populated area," says director Brad Peyton. "And this earthquake would have the potential for global impact because the Earth is having an event.''

Johnson plays Ray, a helicopter rescue pilot who is in the air talking to his ex-wife, Emma (Carla Gugino), on the phone when the Big One finally hits and levels Los Angeles. As the traumatic events ripple across the West Coast with power outages, crumbling skyscrapers and even a tsunami, Ray and Emma work their way to San Francisco to save their daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario).

"It all goes down. The damage, destruction, the loss of lives," says Johnson. "Everything that you know on the West Coast doesn't see tomorrow."

Peyton creates a worst-case scenario, but says the film is based in science provided by consultant Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center. The trailer, to be released Tuesday, shows everything from the Hoover Dam to the famed Hollywood sign falling to nature's force.

But Johnson also wanted to make sure the film had plenty of manmade action as he commandeers an assortment of vehicles to save his daughter after his helicopter crashes.

"There's nothing that I don't pilot or drive. We utilize everything we can to get there," says Johnson. "This has big stakes. It's entertaining and also has heart."

Johnson, meanwhile, has seen enough onscreen damage to get his L.A. home earthquake-ready..

"Now we have multiple earthquake kits at home. And when you realize the magnitude of this, you go home grateful for the days you have," he says. "It gives you a different perspective. It makes you stop and think that there's no beating Mother Nature. She's the toughest mama around."



