Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson “ripped open” trauma from his past to play MMA star Mark Kerr.<\/p>\n
The wrestler-turned-movie star has revealed he had to “tap into” painful memories to portray the troubled athlete in new sports drama The Smashing Machine and he found the experience both “scary” and “freeing”.<\/p>\n
Dwayne, 53, told Vanity Fair magazine: “You have to be willing to tap into all the stuff that you’ve gone through, and this was stuff that I had not explored on camera or otherwise.<\/p>\n
“I’m not a big therapy person, even though I’m an advocate for whatever it is you need. I found it so scary, but also, so nourishing and freeing. I ripped it open.”<\/p>\n
The Smashing Machine tells the story of Kerr’s rise to fame and his battle with substance abuse, and Dwayne \u2014 who got to know Kerr during his time as a wrestler \u2014 admits the story resonated with him.<\/p>\n
He told the publication: “I lost a lot of my friends to addiction and to suicide \u2014 in the late ’90s, early-to-mid 2000s, there were a lot of untimely, very early deaths.”<\/p>\n
Johnson added of the nerves he felt taking on the role: “It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?’<\/p>\n
“I realised that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff.”<\/p>\n
The Smashing Machine is due for release in October.<\/p>\n
It comes after Dwayne previously opened up about his tactic for dealing with “screwy or wobbly” moments in life, insisting he tries to focus on the positive.<\/p>\n
He told Extra: “I think, trying to find joy around every corner, even if things are a little screwy or wobbly, maybe in real life.<\/p>\n
“So, I’ve had a tendency over the years to not sweep it under the carpet but just, I know funky s*** is going on and I’m dealing with it, but let me try and find a place over here where I can be happy or smile or try and access some happiness and joy.<\/p>\n
“I find myself doing that. It helps me deal with the not-joyous stuff.”<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE HELPLINESSamaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800Institute of Mental Health’s national mindline: 1771 (24 hours) \/ 6669-1771 (via WhatsApp)Silver Ribbon: 6386-1928Shan You Counselling Centre (Mandarin):\u00a06741-0078Fei Yue’s Online Counselling Service:\u00a0www.eC2.sgTinkle Friend (for primary school children):\u00a01800-2744-788<\/p>\n
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