It's time to take Dwayne Johnson seriously The former wrestler stars in The Smashing Machine, in competition at Venice82

At the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the highest-paid actor in the world and former WWE champion, competes in the role of Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, directed and written by Benny Safdie. One half of the Safdie brothers duo, who in 2025 decided to pursue solo projects, with Josh soon presenting his Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet. For The Rock, playing Kerr is a role that resonates throughout his career. The athlete portrayed on screen was a pioneer of American mixed martial arts, and the film narrates the period between 1997 and 2000, a chapter in which he faced one of the most painful defeats of his life, as well as an addiction to opioids.

The star, who comes from a wrestling family, was therefore able to deeply understand what stepping into the ring meant for Kerr, and he had the chance to meet with the man himself, who was present at the film’s premiere in Venice. The actor underwent a complete transformation in the film, in which he stars alongside Emily Blunt, who plays his then-girlfriend Dawn Staples, later his wife. She was also the one who, after working with Johnson in Disney’s 2021 Jungle Cruise, encouraged him to take on a type of cinema that could be considered more serious, especially following the many blockbusters and box office successes he had headlined.

“I had this voice inside me,” The Rock said during the film’s official press conference for The Smashing Machine. “Ever since we first worked together on Jungle Cruise, Emily has really encouraged me. She’s someone I confide in, she believed in me and told me: there’s a place where you can put everything you went through as a kid, and that place is what you love — acting. And you’ve got me, let’s do it together.” An invitation joined by writer Safdie, with whom the trio brought the fighter’s story to the big screen. The actor elaborated on his bond with Emily Blunt: “We’re very close. There would never have been any transformation into Mark Kerr without my best friend supporting me and telling me: I’m here for you.”

Dwayne Johnson also stated that his desire to take on a more complex project like The Smashing Machine was not meant as a challenge to Hollywood to prove he is more than what people or insiders might think. “It’s an industry that tends to put actors into categories, and it’s hard to break out of them,” he explained. “So after doing so many commercial films with great box office results, it felt like that was the only side of me people knew. For a long time, my acting career was exactly that, and I was happy with it. But I felt the need to pursue something else.” The Smashing Machine will be released in Italy on November 19, distributed by I Wonder Pictures.