Oscar Buzz Builds for The Rock

Dwayne Johnson goes deep in his role as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 2, 2025 1:02 PM CDT
Oscar Buzz Builds for The Rock
Dwayne Johnson, left, and Emily Blunt pose at the photo call for the film "The Smashing Machine" during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025.   (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Dwayne Johnson takes a serious turn as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, which had its world premiere Monday at the Venice Film Festival. "I have for a long time wanted this," Johnson said before the premiere, per the AP. "The transformation part was something I was really hungry to do. I've been very fortunate to have the career that I've had ... but there was just this voice inside of me, this little voice, like what if I can do more." The actor, best known for big-budget action movies and comedies, is already sparking Oscar buzz for his transformation in the film from Benny Safdie.

"The box office in our business is very loud," Johnson said. "And it can push you into a category and into a corner: This is your lane ... and this is what Hollywood wants you to be." But he felt like he had more to give, not to prove something to himself. The push to take on a new challenge came in part from his co-star and friend Emily Blunt, who he worked with in Jungle Cruise, and who encouraged him to draw on everything he'd gone through in life and put it into his work. "Sometimes it takes people you know and love, like Emily and Benny, to say you can," he said.

Kerr is a two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winner and MMA fighter who retired in 2009. Known as "the Smashing Machine," Kerr also struggled with addiction to painkillers and opioids, overdosing twice. Former WWE star Johnson remembered meeting Kerr in the late 1990s and said how much he looked up to him. Blunt said it was a little "spooky" to see Johnson fully disappear into this role. "I've been scared to go deep and go intense and go raw until now, until I've had this opportunity," Johnson said. The film is playing in the main competition against titles like Frankenstein, Bugonia, The Voice of Hind Rajab, La Grazia, and No Other Choice.

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The Venice festival has launched several recent best actor Oscar winners, from Brendan Fraser in The Whale to Adrien Brody in The Brutalist. Like both of those films, The Smashing Machine is being released by A24.

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