In The Smashing Machine, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is battered and defeated — in bloody fights by his opponents in the ring, and in quiet moments by the world. In the movie he plays real-life UFC fighter and mixed martial artist Mark Kerr, whose dominance at the sport in the late 1990s begins to fall apart as his dependence on painkillers increases, heightening the tension in his romantic relationship and turning the glory he savored from winning fights in front of crowds of adoring fans into another form of addiction.
It’s a whole new side to the actor, who audiences are used to seeing lead over-the-top action franchises like Jumanji and Fast and Furious, where our heroes always win.
Johnson’s massive success is a blessing and a curse. He said at a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, where The Smashing Machine received a whopping 15-minute standing ovation, he has felt “pigeonholed” in the entertainment industry and “scared to go deep and intense and raw until now.” His official statements have been humble, as is standard for awards campaigns, but his quest for acclaim is obvious. The highest-earning actor of 2024, who has toyed with the idea of a presidential run, is shaping an underdog narrative.
“Whatever happens from here, I don’t know. But already this film has changed my life, and I’m forever grateful,” Johnson captioned a post promoting his new movie on TikTok, where he has more than 80 million followers.
Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine. (Eric Zachanowich/A24/Courtesy of Everett Collection)
He’d like to be taken seriously as an actor, and portraying a troubled fighter is the ideal vehicle for the star who dominates every screen he’s ever been on with his hulking, muscular form, throwing punches left and right. That’s true in The Smashing Machine, but the similarities with his past roles end there.
With this performance, Johnson is doing everything actors tend to do when they want to win awards: He physically took on a dramatically different appearance, wearing facial prosthetics and gaining 30 pounds; he does a precise impression of a well-known figure and displays a broad spectrum of emotion from ecstasy to anger while dealing with heavy topics like substance abuse and suicide. He has to deliver both violence and quiet devastation, sometimes in the same scene.
Like Kerr, Johnson knows a lot about what it’s like to dominate in the ring. Before he was one of the highest-grossing movie stars in the world, he was considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time in the World Wrestling Federation. Like Kerr, Johnson craves more.
‘A dubious rebrand’
Not everyone is on board with his prestige pivot, though.
Though many critics have lauded Johnson’s performance as the film’s “greatest weapon” and one that could “rewrite the history of [his] acting career,” movie enthusiasts on X and Reddit find his pursuit of awards amid so much commercial success to feel contrived and annoying — especially given that he’ll pivot right back to the blockbuster machine soon. Puck’s Matt Belloni called Johnson’s press tour looks, with a slimmed-down physique and tiny glasses, “a dubious rebrand.”
Dwayne Johnson sports a new look at the Venice Film Festival. (Laurent Koffel/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
It’s so obvious that he wants to be taken seriously, it feels sinister. Doesn’t he already have everything?
One thing is for sure — this critically acclaimed turn is no cash grab. Johnson made Moana, San Andreas and Red One and so many other blockbusters. There was a whole TV show about his upbringing called Young Rock. Taking on a biopic when you basically already have one about yourself is incredibly unusual. If anything, it’s part of his own quest for glory. There weren’t many people who believed that Johnson could.
But all he really needed at first was for one person to buy in. At the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of The Smashing Machine, writer-director Benny Safdie told Canada’s The Morning Show that he “just knew” that Johnson could take on the heavy role.
“He had something really deep behind his eyes … I wanted to explore that with him,” he says. “You just know sometimes.”
Artistic growth or ego?
It’s been a while since an action star successfully took the leap from commercial fare to award-worthy drama, though Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Will Smith have done it.
We’re now more accepting of those who flow from prestige to action, like Jennifer Lawrence and Timothée Chalamet, but some audiences still find the unabashed pursuit of greatness to be off-putting. Omari Newton, Vancouver Film School’s head of acting, tells Yahoo it’s “an indication of artistic growth when an artist wants to reach beyond their comfort zone of spectacle-driven crowd pleasers and delve into more artistic work.”
Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine. (A24/Courtesy of Everett Collection)
But it can also come across as an “egotistical desire to remain relevant,” he says. In the age of social media, celebrities feel overexposed, which can make audiences feel tired and resentful.
“The mystique that used to surround stars of old has been replaced by 24-hour access to their every thought, feeling and move,” Newton says.
The Rock is a true movie star, but like many before him, movie stars evolve. It’s the public that isn’t exactly willing to accept the behavior it takes to become one and stay one. Stacy Jones, CEO of influencer marketing company Hollywood Branded, tells Yahoo that we’d much rather put actors in neat boxes.
“When someone breaks out of the lane we assigned them, it creates friction,” she says. “[Johnson is] not just a movie star; he’s a pop culture ecosystem all on his own. A mix of wrestling, tequila, Disney, blockbusters and [widely] followed social media that …. makes some audiences bristle when he signals he wants the same critical respect as ‘serious’ actors.”
Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey and Lady Gaga all faced the same pushback at points in their careers. They all had to navigate what PR strategist Amore Philip calls the “success paradox.”
“Given his immense success in the film industry, some might feel he should be content with the empire he has built,” she tells Yahoo. “[Johnson’s] pursuit of Oscar-worthy roles doesn’t signify ingratitude; it highlights his ambition and passion for his craft.”
The pressure is on
It’s up to the public to decide whether they think Johnson truly wants to improve his art or is simply on a quest for more acclaim — but are the two things really so different?
Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine. (Ken Hirama/A24/Courtesy of Everett Collection)
Johnson told Variety that transforming into Kerr was the “hardest thing I’ve ever done.” He went all-in, unleashing emotions he’d pent up inside throughout his life. It’s difficult not to draw comparisons about what The Smashing Machine says about the trappings of world renown and why Johnson would pursue a critically acclaimed role himself. He consulted with the real-life Kerr about his portrayal of the years when his life and career began to unravel.
“He’d say, ‘I never lost.’ But the truth is, the win became the enemy,” Johnson says. “The pressure became toxic. The movie isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about pressure — and how we survive it.”
In playing Kerr, Johnson is taking on an enormous risk — swimming in the uncharted waters of serious dramatic acting, despite having conquered the far more lucrative big-budget action circuit. He might not win any major awards, but he’s standing up to the expectations of his massive audience and asking them to think of him differently. Confronting the pressure of fame alongside his character feels like victory.