After years fitting into the action star mold, Dwayne Johnson will soon take on the challenge of being a dramatic leading man in “The Smashing Machine.” In fact, Johnson said the role reintroduced him to a new feeling: fear.
“It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?’” Johnson told Vanity Fair in a Monday feature. “I realized that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff.”
In “The Smashing Machine,” Johnson takes on the part of real-life UFC champion Mark Kerr — a role not entirely outside the comfort zone of the WWE legend. The film is written and directed by Benny Safdie, one half of the brotherly duo behind the films “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems.” This will be Benny’s first solo feature, releasing within months of Josh’s “Marty Supreme.”
Johnson dove into the transformative part, which many have labeled as an awards hopeful. This included spending hours every day in the makeup chair.
“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,” Johnson said. “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.”
It doesn’t seem that Johnson will be shying back away from these heavy roles any time soon. In June, it was reported that the actor would star in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming film “Breakthrough” for A24.
“The Smashing Machine” shares a name with a 2002 HBO documentary about Kerr’s life and career, also titled “The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.” In the film, Johnson is joined by Emily Blunt, who plays Kerr’s then-wife Dawn Staples.
““If Emily and I weren’t best friends, I don’t know that we could’ve gone to the places we went to,” Johnson told Vanity Fair. “That closeness created the trust, which then allowed for the vulnerability, which then allowed for (us to) go anywhere.”
Blunt was similarly praiseful of her co-star, saying he disappeared into the role.
“It seemed to be an effortless immersion—like a full disappearance, spooky. From day one, he was elsewhere,” Blunt told Vanity Fair. “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.”
“The Smashing Machine” will premiere at Venice International Film Festival in competition on Sept. 1. A24 will distribute the film in theaters starting Oct. 3.
