Dwayne Johnson 'laughed so hard' at viral reaction to his Moana wig

Dwayne Johnson "laughed so hard" at the response to his wig in the live-action Moana remake.

The wrestler-turned-actor, who voiced the demigod Maui in the animated Moana in 2016, has reprised his role in person for the upcoming live-action remake.

As Johnson is best known for his bald look, fans were stunned to see him with a flowing brunette mane, and the internet erupted with memes poking fun at his new appearance.

Speaking to Variety at the Los Angeles premiere of Moana on Tuesday, the Jumanji actor insisted he found the response to his wig "very funny".

"I laughed so f**king hard when we first came out, and people saw me in a wig for the first time," he said. "They memed me. The internet did the internet. It was very, very funny, but I was like, 'OK, it's alright, just see the movie. Wait until you see it's Maui's superpower; it's all good."

Johnson added that he tried 12 different wigs to get it right, and once wore it off-set at 2am on a Saturday after having "a lot of tequila".

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the songs for the original animation plus a new track for the remake, also defended Johnson's wig.

"A lot of you forget that Dwayne Johnson's debut was in The Scorpion King, where he had a gorgeous mane of hair," he quipped. "And all of you freaking out, this is Scorpion King erasure. I won't stand for it. I'm so glad that he has his hair and his mana back, where it belongs."

Moana, starring Catherine Laga'aia as the title character, will be released in cinemas on 10 July.