Hollywood star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Pic: PA Wire.

A Hollywood action star is said to have turned into a real life hero when he chased hooded thieves off a film set in Hackney earlier this week.

Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as The Rock, apparently embraced the FBI role he was playing by fending off two thieves who were trying to break into some vans near where he was filming the Fast and Furious 6.

An unnamed source told a national tabloid that the star - who was wearing a flak jacket and brandishing an FBI badge - chased off two youths, although it’s unclear exactly where the incident is said to have happened.

The 40-year-old World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fighter-turned-actor is said to boast more than 20 stone of muscle on his 6ft 5in frame.

The Rock’s agent didn’t respond to the Gazette’s request for a comment, and a Hackney Police spokeswoman said officers haven’t received any reports about the incident.

The film, the sixth part of a franchise about street racing, is scheduled for release in May 2013.