Dwayne Johnson Surprises Los Angeles Families with Toys at “Red One” Screening

Johnson and Chris Evans' new Christmas-themed action movie 'Red One' is in theaters now

Courtesy of Amazon MGM  Dwayne Johnson (right) on Nov. 14, 2024

Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Dwayne Johnson (right) on Nov. 14, 2024

Dwayne Johnson is stepping out to surprise families in Los Angeles!

Johnson, 52, made a surprise appearance at a special advance screening of his new Christmas-themed movie Red One on Thursday, Nov. 14, where he helped Amazon MGM Studios, the movie's distributor, gift STEM education-focused toys to families in attendance from the city's community-based Watts Empowerment Center.

Photos from the event show Johnson, who sometimes refers to himself as "Dwanta Claus" around the holidays, mingling with parents and children in the crowd as he and others from the studio passed out toys from brands like Barbie, Uno, Hot Wheels and other Mattel-branded toys that are featured in the movie.

Amazon also donated a bus to the Watts Empowerment Center to help families living in the housing projects associated with the community center safely transport their children to school and other family activities, according to a release.

Related: Dwayne Johnson Shares Sweet Moment Alongside 'Warrior' Woman Diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer

Courtesy of Amazon MGM  Dwayne Johnson greeting children at an advance screening of Red One on Nov. 14, 2024

Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Dwayne Johnson greeting children at an advance screening of Red One on Nov. 14, 2024

In Red One, Johnson portrays the North Pole's head of security; he teams up with a bounty hunter portrayed by Chris Evans in order to rescue Santa Claus after he is kidnapped. Aside from Johnson and Evans, the new holiday action movie also costars J.K. SimmonsLucy LiuBonnie HuntMary Elizabeth EllisNick Kroll and Kiernan Shipka.

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In a recent interview with PEOPLE ahead of the movie's release, Evans, 43, said that Johnson offered up $40,000 of his own money in a raffle held for crew members on set while filming Red One as a means of saying thank you to those who worked on the film.

Related: Dwayne Johnson Says Chris Evans Made Him Laugh 'So Many Times' Filming Red One: We Had 'Good Chemistry' (Exclusive)

Courtesy of Amazon MGM  Dwayne Johnson on Nov. 14, 2024

Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Dwayne Johnson on Nov. 14, 2024

“He does this thing on movie sets, at the end of the week the crew will all put in 5, 10 bucks in this little bucket. They get raffle tickets. It's called 'five-dollar Friday,' ” the Avengers star said of Johnson. “Someone draws a name at the end of the day and they win a couple-thousand bucks. And DJ would splash the pot in ways that no other actor can keep up with,"

As Evans put it, Johnson's and other actors' additions to the raffles are "just a way to say thank you to the crew each week." 

Red One is in theaters now.