Dwayne Johnson takes a serious turn as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine,” which had its world premiere Monday at the Venice Film Festival.
“I have for a long time wanted this,” Johnson said before the premiere. “The transformation part was something I was really hungry to do. I’ve been very fortunate to have the career that I’ve had and make the films that I have, but there was just this voice inside of me, this little voice, like what if I can do more.”
The actor, best known for big budget action movies and comedies, is already sparking Oscar buzz for his transformation in the film from Benny Safdie. The festival has launched several recent best actor Oscar winners, from Brendan Fraser in “The Whale” to Adrien Brody in “The Brutalist.” Like both of those films, “The Smashing Machine” is being released by A24.
“The box office in our business is very loud,” Johnson said. “And it can push you into a category and into a corner: This is your lane, this is what you do, this what people want you to be in and this is what Hollywood wants you to be. And I understood that. And I made those movies, and I like them and they were fun. And some were really good and did well and some not so good.”
But he felt like he had more to give, not to prove something to Hollywood, but to himself. The push to take on a new challenge came in part from his co-star and friend Emily Blunt, who he worked with in “Jungle Cruise,” and who encouraged him to draw on everything he’d gone through in life and put it into his work.
“When you’ve been pigeonholed into something it’s hard to know, wait, can I do that?” he said. “Sometimes it takes people you know and love, like Emily and Benny, to say you can.”
Johnson was joined in Venice not only by Safdie and Blunt, but also the man he’s portraying in the film. Kerr is a two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winner and MMA fighter who retired in 2009. Known as “The Smashing Machine,” Kerr also struggled with addiction to painkillers and opioids, overdosing twice.
Before Johnson was best known as the star of franchises like “Jumanji” and the “Fast & Furious” series, as well as a producer and business owner, he made his name in wrestling. A third-generation wrestler, he won eight WWE championships.
“I loved wrestling and I had such a great time, but it’s very bombastic,” Johnson said.
He remembered meeting Kerr in the late 1990s and said how much he looked up to him. This film, he said, feels like a full circle moment.
“The Smashing Machine” takes place between the years 1997 and 2000, a tumultous time in both Kerr’s professional and personal life. His relationship with then girlfriend Dawn Staples was particularly volatile.
Blunt got to know and spend time with her counterpart as well. She said she was excited to show the “full weather system” of a relationship.
“I’ve been part of a lot of relationships that are essentially more curated to a movie, a moviefied relationship,” Blunt said. “This felt like the full spectrum of what a relationship really looks like. Because humans change within the hour. I think we got to show that.”
She said it was extraordinary and a little “spooky” to see Johnson fully disappear into this role. The prosethtics were designed by master makeup artist Kazu Hiro, who helped Bradley Cooper turn into Leonard Berntstein and Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill.
Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera said last week he wouldn’t be surprised to see Johnson, who he called “absolutely amazing” in the film, and Blunt among the Oscar nominees next year.
“I’ve been scared to go deep and go intense and go raw until now, until I’ve had this opportunity,” Johnson said.
Both Johnson and Safdie said that Kerr had changed their lives.
“It’s such a beautiful thing to shine a light on him and learn from his experiences,” Safdie said.
Safdie is also an actor, who recently appeared in “Oppenheimer” and “Happy Gilmore 2,” and filmmaker who, along with his brother Josh, codirected “Uncut Gems.”
In his director’s statement for “The Smashing Machine,” Safdie called the title, “a perfect onomatopoeia for something visual, conjuring images of domination and destruction with ease.”
The film is playing in the main competition, with titles like “Frankenstein,””Bugonia,” “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” “La Grazia ” and “No Other Choice” also vying for the top prizes, including acting and directing awards. Winners will be announced on Sept. 6.
“The Smashing Machine” will open in North American theaters on Oct. 3.
