Dwayne Johnson believes ‘The Smashing Machine’ has “changed my life”
Dwayne Johnson has said his role in Benny Safdie’s new movie The Smashing Machine has “changed my life”.
In the film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a standing ovation that moved Johnson to tears, he portrays Mark Kerr, who helped put the UFC on the map, and also dealt with huge personal problems, which led to him fighting for his life rather than a title belt.
The movie is set to arrive in cinemas on October 3rd, and marks a change in tone for Johnson, who has spent the majority of his acting career in family-friendly blockbusters rather than gritty, independent pictures.
“That was special,” he said of the 15-minute standing ovation that he received for his performance while at the Venice Film Festival during an appearance on Good Morning America on October 2nd. “This film, Smashing Machine, and this film, and what it represents changed my life.”
Johnson elaborated, “I wanted to be challenged, I wanted to challenge myself, I wanted to step out of a comfort zone that I was in and what that meant. I was very lucky to have our writer and director Benny Safdie who believed in me, and also one of my best friends here, Emily Blunt, who believed and encouraged me too, as well.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Johnson said of the real-life character he brought to the screen in the movie, sharing, Mark Kerr was one of the founding godfathers of MMA at a time when it was really the wild, wild west, and Mark Kerr had gone through his demons and struggles.”
The actor explained of Kerr’s problems, “He overdosed twice, was lucky to be alive, but he is a real reflection, I think, of what happens when someone gets knocked down, gets back up, has resilience, holds on to faith, and years later, he’s still with us.”
Due to the challenges that followed Kerr during his career, Johnson said that Safdie “wanted to tell not a fight story but a life story” rather than making a movie that would only be of interest to those in the MMA community.
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