The Rock is unrecognizable as he transforms into MMA star for 'The Smashing Machine' (2025)

Dwayne Johnson is making fans do a double take after he released a photo in character as MMA fighter Mark Kerr from the upcoming biopic The Smashing Machine.

In the still, which was released by distributor A24, The Rock is seen without his tattoos and pictured sporting a wig as he sits in the corner of a ring. Emily Blunt, who plays Kerr’s wife, Dawn Staples, is spotted in the bottom right corner.

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In the film, which is directed by Benny Safdie (who earned directing acclaim for his work alongside his brother Josh on Good Time and Uncut Gems), Johnson plays Kerr, who rose to prominence during the “no-holds-barred” early days of mixed martial arts. According to Deadline, “the pic will follow Kerr’s struggle with addiction, winning, love, and friendship in the year 2000.”

Johnson told Variety that he was drawn to The Smashing Machine because “Benny wants to create, and continues to push the envelope when it comes to stories that are raw and real, characters that are authentic and at times uncomfortable and arresting. I’m at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I’ve not pushed myself in the past. I’m at a point in my career where I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle (and) pain.”

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He learned about the story from his Jungle Cruise co-star Blunt, who had watched the HBO documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr and urged Johnson: “Youmustmake this movie.”

During his MMA career, Kerr was a two-time UFC champ, a World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, a Pride FC Heavyweight Champion, a NCAA National Wrestling Champion, a National Freestyle Champion and four-time ADCC World Submission Champion.

Kerr became known as “The Smashing Machine” because of his unrelenting fighting style.

When A24 announced last December that Johnson and Safdie were working on a film about Kerr’s life, they called it an “incredibly special project.”

“Dwayne and Benny are singular talents, and their shared vision for Mark’s inspiring story is electrifying. We are deeply honoured to have their trust as collaborators in bringing this incredibly special project to life,” A24’s Noah Sacco said in a statement toThe Hollywood ReporterandVariety.

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On Instagram, Johnson’s fans hailed the look with one fan commenting, “That’s some crazy transformation!!! Wow.”

The film marks a rare dramatic turn for Johnson and comes after the 52-year-old wrestler-turned-actor made a failed bid to remake the DC cinematic universe with his Black Adam antihero as the centrepiece. Johnson’s character was dropped after new studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios in late 2022.

“All that I can do, and all that we could do when we were makingBlack Adam, was to put our best foot forward and surround ourselves with the best people and deliver the best movie we could,” Johnson toldVarietyon last year’s Oscars red carpet. “Our audience score was in the 90s. Critics, you know, took a couple shots, but that’s just the business of it.”

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Using a football analogy at the Oscars, Johnson said the change in leadership at DC Studios meant there was no clear path for him in continuing on as the character.

“It’s almost like when you have a pro football team and your quarterback wins championships and your head coach wins championships and then a new owner comes in and says, ‘Not my coach, not my quarterback. I’m going to go with somebody new,’” Johnson toldVariety.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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