On the cusp of his latest movie release in theatres, Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson is talking about both his and his family鈥檚 struggles with depression.

In a recent interview with the British tabloid Johnson recounted his mother's attempted suicide 30 years ago.

He says he was 15 at the time and his family had recently been evicted from an apartment. One day, his mother pulled over the car on an interstate in Nashville, got out, and walked into traffic.

Johnson says he was able to grab her and pull her back onto the gravel shoulder.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 crazy about that suicide attempt,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s that to this day, she has no recollection of it, whatsoever. Probably best she doesn鈥檛.鈥�

Not long after, injuries ruined Johnson鈥檚 dreams of playing professional football in the NFL, and his subsequent CFL career lasted less than a year. Then his girlfriend broke up with him, sinking him into the 鈥渁bsolute worst time鈥� of his life.

鈥淚 reached a point where I didn鈥檛 want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly,鈥� he told the newspaper.

Johnson wisely moved into wrestling -- following in his father鈥檚 footsteps -- and then acting, and is now a box office-topping movie star. He made US$65 million last year -- second only to Mark Wahlberg 鈥� and is currently expecting his third daughter with his long-time partner, Lauren Hashian.

On Twitter, Johnson told his 12.7 million followers that the interview earned him lots of positive responses.

鈥淲e all go thru the sludge/shit and depression never discriminates,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭ook me a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up. Especially us dudes have a tendency to keep it in. You're not alone."

Johnson鈥檚 new action film 鈥淩ampage鈥� is due out April 13.