Fear isn’t one thing sometimes related to Dwayne Johnson. Certainly not within the ring, because the charismatic heel with the cocked eyebrow, and never in Hollywood, the place he has cemented himself as one of many trade’s most bankable, and singular, motion stars and producers.
By all accounts the system was working. Yet for years he’d had a suspicion that he may do extra, supply extra, as an actor. But when it got here time to dive into one thing extra uncooked, extra susceptible for “The Smashing Machine,” a drama about MMA fighter Mark Kerr that he’d been occupied with for over a decade, he realized one thing: He was scared.
“It’s not easy to think, ‘Hey, I’m capable of doing this and I know I can do this,’” Johnson, 53, informed The Associated Press lately. “You may seem, may have a veneer, that you’re capable of it and you’re confident. But I was very nervous and scared to do it because it’s something that I hadn’t done before.”
Johnson has been open about his tough childhood, his turbulent relationship along with his late father, Rocky Johnson, and their monetary insecurity. Yet as an entertainer, he’d stored all these previous wounds out of the image till now. For the primary time in his profession, he determined to take that trauma and channel it into one thing he loves: Performance and storytelling. And it is put him within the Oscar dialog.
“The Smashing Machine,” which opens in theaters Oct. 3, wasn’t only a leap into the unknown for Johnson. For co-star Emily Blunt and filmmaker Benny Safdie, directing a function alone for the primary time, it was an opportunity to precise completely different sides of themselves as effectively.
“It’s hard for us to know what we’re capable of sometimes,” Blunt stated.
As an actor, Johnson by no means actually did the indie factor. He didn’t need to. In 2001, he burst onto the scene within the blockbuster “The Mummy Returns” and by no means appeared again. In lower than 25 years, his movies have remodeled $12.5 billion on the international field workplace.
By the time he watched John Hyams’ documentary about Kerr, his larger-than-life profession was firmly on the ascent with Luke Hobbs and the “Jumanji” franchise nonetheless to come back. It caught with him, and some years later he acquired the rights by way of his Seven Bucks manufacturing firm.
More years would move till one other film ignited the spark once more: The thrillingly frenetic “Uncut Gems.” He determined to carry “The Smashing Machine” to its filmmakers. What if they might see one thing completely different for him too?
Johnson even introduced the mission in Nov. 2019. Then the pandemic hit, and “The Smashing Machine” was sidelined.
But Safdie hadn’t stopped occupied with it. He’d even despatched Johnson a model of a Nautica sweater Kerr had worn (measurement XXL), together with a handwritten letter saying it doesn’t matter what occurred, he hoped he could possibly be concerned ultimately. Johnson by no means responded.
Safdie’s obsession spiraled. “It burrowed itself into my mind.”
The fact is Johnson by no means acquired the letter, or the sweater. But one other door had opened when Safdie discovered himself appearing alongside Blunt in “Oppenheimer.” Knowing that she’d grow to be shut with Johnson on “Jungle Cruise,” he took an opportunity and informed her about “The Smashing Machine” not just for Johnson, however for her too.
Blunt too had been desirous to see Johnson push himself. When she met him on “Jungle Cruise” she thought he’d be nearer to “The Rock” and shortly got here to know that was not solely a personality he performed however “the performance of a lifetime.”
She began to surprise if Johnson was this nice character actor who didn’t even understand it. In “The Smashing Machine,” she noticed a “visceral, exciting opportunity for all of us to put our feet to the fire.”
Kerr was an early pioneer with UFC effectively earlier than MMA blossomed right into a mainstream sport. While revered by core struggle followers, Kerr’s recognition outdoors the cage by no means reached the heights or monetary riches loved by trendy UFC stars reminiscent of Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor.
He additionally struggled with dependancy to painkillers and overdosed twice earlier than getting sober. Then there was his sometimes-volatile long-term relationship with then-girlfriend Dawn Staples (whom he would later marry, have a toddler with, and ultimately separate from).
This would all require a unique sort of preparation for Johnson, who needed to form his muscle mass into that of an MMA fighter as an alternative of a wrestler. The transformation additionally included a brand new voice, new hair and facial prosthetics.
By the time the cameras rolled, each Dwayne Johnson and The Rock had successfully disappeared. This, Blunt stated, was useful throughout their home struggle scenes, the place punches might not have been thrown however the emotional wreckage is huge.
“The environment that Benny creates is one of such spontaneity that you really blur the lines between fiction and reality,” Blunt stated. “It makes the scenes terribly exciting, but I think it makes them quite hard to come down from, because you’re really in a spell.”
Whether “The Smashing Machine” leads to awards consideration, Johnson is glad he overcame the concern and and did not hearken to the voice telling him to remain in his lane.
“I didn’t want to wake up tomorrow going, God … I really wish I got out of my comfort zone back then. I wanted to wake up and say, ‘I’m so glad I got out of my comfort zone.’ And I’m so glad I did it.”
Blunt added: “So are we.”
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston contributed from Philadelphia.
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