Dwayne Johnson takes on his most dramatic role in Benny Safdie’s wrestling biopic, The Smashing Machine, which plays UFC champion Mark Kerr. At a press conference at the film’s Venice Film Festival, the action star revealed that he would like to expand his repertoire for a while. “Machine” screen during the competition at the fest.
“I’ve been hoping for this for a long time,” Johnson said, sitting with director Safdy, who plays Kerr’s girlfriend and wife Dawn Staples and co-star Emily Blunt (they divorced in 2015). “The three of us, as we all know when you’re in Hollywood, it went to box office. And you were chasing the box office. And you can get so big, you can make you very heavy, and it can push you into categories.
Best known for franchises like “Jumanji” and “Fast and Furious,” as well as franchises like action films like “Black Adam” and “Red One,” Johnson loved making those films and said, “It really was good and worked, and wasn’t very good.” But inside, he was craving something more.
“I just had this burning desire and voice. Often, for us, or at least for me, it’s more difficult to know what you can do when you do a pigeon hole in something,” he said. “To say you can, like Emily or Benny, sometimes it requires people to say you can.”
Johnson continued: “I looked around a few years ago, and am I living my dreams, or someone else’s dream? Do you come to that realization? I think you can line up. Until I had this opportunity, I was scared to go deep and live.”
The “Smashing Machine” records the victory of Carr in the Ring, documenting the dependence on painkillers and its turbulent relationship with Staples. The professional wrestler himself Johnson received a prosthetic pound to portray the two-time UFC heavyweight champion. Carr was in the audience at the press conference, so Johnson paid tribute to him when the panel began and asked him to stand up and be recognized.
“Mark’s life changed our lives, and certainly my life changed too,” he said. “As we found in the film, it’s not about victory or loss… It’s also about what happens when victory becomes an enemy, and I think we can all relate to that pressure.”
Johnson said he was “very close” with Kerr during the filming process, and Brandt also consulted with real-life staples. “I got to know Dawn well and she was very generous in her talk with me,” Brandt said, praised the couple for “the deep love and devotion they had for each other in an impossible environment.”
Blunt, who starred alongside Johnson in “Jungle Cruise,” said it was “creepy” to see Johnson transform into a car right in front of him. “It was one of the most extraordinary to see him disappear forever,” she said. Johnson called Blunt “best friend” and said he couldn’t play Car without her support and encouragement.
“From the time we worked together on ‘Jungle Cruises’, she really encouraged me and said there’s a place where you can put all the things you’ve experienced as a kid… and that place is what you want to do and you’re acting,” Johnson said.
“The Smashing Machine” is Safdie’s solo feature director’s debut. Safdie worked with her brother Josh for indie favourites such as “Uncut Jewels” and “Good Time.” The director said that he has long been fascinated by the world of professional fighting, but was more interested in the emotional aspects of sports than the physical when making films.
“What he’s going through is a very emotional moment,” Safdi said of a part of Kerr’s life, where the film continues. “There’s a relief. That pressure is gone. And I love it. These things are fine. It’s fine to talk about your pain. It’s fine to feel other people’s feelings.”
The “Smashing Machine” will begin at the theater on October 3rd at A24.
