How did you feel trying to be funny next to Steve Carell in Get Smart? Nervous?
Comedy comes fairly easy to me. Everyone's funny. Just think about you and your buddies - laughing, joking and talking shit. I was lucky to have material written for me. If you read it and it's funny, you've got a good shot at making it work - unless you stink as an actor!

You've dropped "The Rock" - you're just credited as Dwayne Johnson now. Why is that?
It's the second movie I've done it for - the first was (apocalyptic drama) Southland Tales. I'm moving forward.

But you said you'd never drop it...
Did I say that? I was probably drunk at the time! I always knew I'd eventually be billed as Dwayne Johnson. Some entertainers keep their nicknames, but that wasn't for me. I naturally progressed from The Rock, to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, to Dwayne Johnson. But I'm The Rock all the time - my buddies call me Rock.

Are you too embarrassed to use it now you're a "serious" actor?
No, I've always been serious about my work. The Rock was a character I loved playing. I'm not embarrassed by it - I'm proud. It was just the first movies I did were hardcore action movies, so it made sense to stay as The Rock. And I was going back and forth between movies and wrestling at the time.

Would you ever go back to WWE?
I retired five years ago, but they've offered me a whole bunch of stuff to return. I still love wrestling, but I'd accomplished everything I wanted to. Being in front of 50,000 people every night was great training - it forced me to think on my feet and listen to how the audience reacted. I tried to inject as much comedy as possible. The other wrestlers would ask me what they should say. I tell my directors now there's nothing they can throw at me I can't deal with.

You're the most successful wrestler-turned-actor. Why do you think others have struggled?
I worked in lots of different things to find success. I did films like (Disney kiddie comedy) The Game Plan, which made a ton of money - and Southland Tales, which didn't. For the other wrestlers, it comes down to the material. I tell the guys, "You've got to be smart." I didn't always get Oscar-calibre material. You have to seek out good actors to surround yourself with. I started in The Scorpion King and worked with Michael Clarke Duncan, who'd just been nominated for an Oscar. That worked for me.

Do you think any of the others could do as well as you?
It all depends what their goals are. If you asked me eight years ago, I would have said I wanted to be a really great actor. I don't think that's the goal for the other guys. They want to make a movie, make a dollar and continue to wrestle.

A lot of their movies are terrible. Are you sent a lot of bad scripts?
Yeah. I still get them, but every actor does. Daniel Day Lewis will get sent junk, too. There have been a couple of projects I passed on that ended up getting made by someone else - like Vin Diesel doing The Pacifier. When I was offered Brokeback Mountain, I thought, "I don't know if I can do this," and passed. I'm kidding! Ha ha!

Are there any roles that you've regretted turning down?
Well, The Pacifier made a shitload of money! I like Vin - we've been friends for a long time - but I don't regret not taking that role. You can't - you'd send yourself crazy.

Do you still like the "Can you smell what The Rock is cooking" catchphrase?
It's funny! I get it yelled at me all the time. People try to be clever when they do it. When I first retired I was like, "OK, I get it." But now it's kinda cool. I love giving it back to people. It's like someone shouting, "You can't handle the truth!" to Jack Nicholson. Maybe he gets annoyed by that, but if it's still making an impression on people years later, I think that's great.

Get Smart is in cinemas from Friday. The original TV show - Get Smart: Series 1 - is available on DVD now