After backlash from fans and event Dwayne Johnson himself, a museum in France has begun corrections on a wax figure based on the actor. Musée Grévin in Paris took down the figure and within 24 hours, artists gave it a slightly darker skin tone.
“We found his reaction rather friendly when addressing the fact that his figure was indeed whiter than it should have been,” said Veronique Berecz, the museum’s head of PR. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Dwayne Johnson so we used several photos — but as it turns out, pictures can be very tricky because the nuances of skin tones can differ depending on the lighting on photos. Every time, the sculptor has to determine the exact face and body shapes, the volumes and it’s always a very complicated challenge if we haven’t met the person.”
When it came to the idea of “white washing” Johnson’s wax figure, Berecz says that wasn’t even a thought in the design process.
“This has nothing do with it — we just made an honest mistake based on the photos we looked at,” she said. “After we saw all these reactions on different blogs and social networks, we changed it immediately.”
Johnson’s wax figure debuted at the Museum a week ago after he won the inaugural Grévin Awards. The prize is voted on by fans who choose their favorite pop culture icon for the museum to immortalize in wax.