Dwayne Johnson said The Smashing Machine has offered him the opportunity to stop “chasing box office” and break out of being “pigeonholed” into
Dwayne Johnson said The Smashing Machine has offered him the opportunity to stop “chasing box office” and break out of being “pigeonholed” into blockbuster roles.
The actor was speaking at the press conference for Benny Safdie’s Venice Competition title, in which Johnson stars alongside Emily Blunt.
“The three of us have talked about, when you’re in Hollywood, it had become about box office,” said Johnson. “And you chase the box office, and the box office can be very loud and it can become very resounding and it can push you into a category and into a corner. This is your lane and this is what you do and this is what Hollywood wants you to do.”
“I just had this burning desire and voice that was saying, ‘What if there is more and what if I can?’,” added Johnson. “A lot of times, it’s harder for us — or at least for me — to know what you’re capable of when you’ve been pigeonholed into something. Sometimes it takes people that who you love and respect, like Emily and Benny, to say that you can.”
Johnson began his career as a performance wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and has worked in films – mainly blockbuster and wide release titles – since the millennium. He said he reevaluated his career a few years ago when he realised he wasn’t satisfied with its direction.
“I started to think, am I living my dream or am I living other people’s dreams?” said Johnson. “You come to that recognition and you can either fall in line — ‘Well, it’s status quo, things are good, I don’t want to rock the boat’ — or go, I want to live my dreams now and do what I want to do and have a place finally to put all this stuff that I’ve experienced in the past that I’ve shied away from.”
“I’ve been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity.”
Johnson noted that his desire to try something different meant no denigration of his blockbuster past. “I made those movies, and I liked them,” said Johnson. “Some were really good and did well. And some not so much.”
Male vulnerability
The Smashing Machine depicts the overdue career of Mark Kerr, a wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter, as the sport of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) takes shape.
It is written, directed, co-produced and edited by Benny Safdie, in his first solo directorial credit after working with his brother Josh Safdie on films including Good Time and Uncut Gems.
Safdie revealed that he asked Johnson to get bigger for the role of the hulking Kerr, who was also present at the Venice press conference. “I cannot believe I even asked,” laughed the director.
Blunt plays Dawn, Kerr’s partner in the period of the film, with whom the wrestler has several fights. “It’s a really fantastic backdrop for a story of specifically male vulnerability – you see it amplified in this arena,” said Blunt. “And yet this movie was never about the guy with his fist in the air, it was about the fallout afterwards and how they were cracked apart by having to maintain that image that is unrealistic for anyone.”
“It’s not about fighting,” added Johnson. “It’s a love story about Mark and Dawn; and Mark and the love he had for the thing he did, and his struggle trying to deliver. The transformation was something I was really hungry to do.”
Johnson and Blunt formed a close relationship when starring in 2021 action-adventure adventure Jungle Cruise. “From the beginning when we worked on Jungle Cruise, [Blunt] encouraged and believed in me, and said there’s a place you can put all the stuff you’ve gone through as a kid,” said Johnson. “That transformation could not have happened without my best friend being there saying ‘I got you’.”
Ryan Bader, former martial arts artist Bas Rutten [playing himself] and boxer Oleksandr Usyk are on the cast alongside Johnson and Blunt.
The Smashing Machine will play at Toronto after its Venice launch. It will release in major markets on October 3, with A24 distributing in the US and Entertainment Film Distributors releasing in UK-Ireland.
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