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Dwayne Johnson stars in A24's The Smashing Machine as an MMA fighter wrestling with personal demons while reaching a peak in his career. The film, written and directed by Benny Safdie, is based on real-life fighter Mark Kerr, who was in the professional wrestling space around the same time as The Rock. So, it feels like the kind of role Johnson would be ideal for.
Yet, for the longest time, the actor was pigeonholed as a star with a larger-than-life persona from his blockbuster projects. So, it took a leap of faith for him to be involved in a film as emotionally demanding as this.
“I was so hungry for an opportunity to do something raw and gritty and rip myself open. And all of a sudden, The Smashing Machine comes along,” Johnson told Vanity Fair.
For this role, Johnson's performance needed to come from a deep emotional space to portray the contrast between Kerr's outward generous personality as opposed to his lethal nature inside the ring. To achieve that, Johnson also had to sit through a rigorous prosthetic makeup process that led to his on-screen transformation.
“I just sat in front of that mirror for three to four hours and watched it all change. There were about 13 or 14 different prosthetics. Subtle, yet I think very impactful. By the time I got to set, I was Mark Kerr, and I felt it, from how he walked to how he talked and how he looked at life,” Johnson told Vanity Fair.
Dwayne Johnson brings his dramatic chops with The Smashing Machine
Dwayne Johnson's latest Venice-bound performance feels unlike the work he has done in the past. His movies centered on him being an invincible heroic figure who can beat every odd. It's the kind of central character that is seldom allowed to be vulnerable. So, with The Smashing Machine, he found a way to bypass that typecasting.
In line with this, Johnson's co-star Emily Blunt said,
“DJ has been pigeonholed into the image of the big hero who’s got all the answers and he’s going to fix everything and he’s invincible. I think until this moment, maybe he thought that was the only lane that people wanted to see him in.”
Before this, Blunt starred alongside Johnson in the 2021 fantasy adventure flick, Jungle Cruise. While speaking about his immersive performance in The Smashing Machine, Blunt said,
“It seemed to be an effortless immersion—like a full disappearance, spooky. From day one, he was elsewhere. He has absorbed and borne witness to so much of what Mark has experienced that it was such a beautiful thing to watch this person let go of having to be an image, of having to be The Rock, and crack himself in half for this role.”
Johnson also revealed how the prosthetics process allowed him to sink his teeth deeper into the performance.
"By the time I got to set, I was Mark Kerr, and I felt it, from how he walked to how he talked and how he looked at life," Johnson said.
Speaking about Mark Kerr's contradicting personality, he added,
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“What a walking contradiction in the most beautiful way Mark was and still is. Soft-spoken, sweet, kind—yet at one time the most lethal man on the planet.”
The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, will be released on October 3, 2025, in theaters by A24.
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