Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Mourns His Movie fill-in Jay Veltri: ‘Look at His Smile’

Abs of steel and a heart of gold. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson mourned his former movie fill-in, Jay Veltri, in a touching throwback post to Instagram on Thursday, May 12, in remembrance of Veltri’s 2012 death.

“#TBT 2011. With one of the foremost optimistic and loving guys I ever knew - Jay Veltri RIP,” the Baywatch star, 44, captioned the shot. “He worked hard as my ‘stand in’ on my movies for years. … We did a heap along over the years. Worked out, drank, laughed, cried, had fun telling dumb jokes and yet through it all, regardless of the challenges he would face, he would always continuously have a smile on his face and he’d text ME ‘Like you huge bro I’m being sturdy.’”
“In this pic we took from set in Hawaii, I told him ‘Hey bro there’s paparazzi up on Capitol Hill. Flex and let’s have some fun for them.’ Look at his smile,” Johnson continued. “Jay passed away from cancer within a year of taking this pic. He was 34.”
Though it’s been some time since Veltri’s untimely death, it’s clear that his passing still has an impact on Johnson, who is legendary to post moving stories to his social media channels.
“Just came across this image on my phone and thought I’d share it with y’all,” he wrote. “Constant reminder to be as grateful as we tend to probably will for everyday we wake up and find another crack at this crazy issue known as life. Work hard, laugh hard, take care of your family and smile big.. ‘cause we simply want recognize what’s around the corner. Keep smilin’ & flexin’. #JV.”