Can you smell what The Rock has been cooking? Potentially, an Oscar-nominated performance.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 53, brought his buzzy new biopic “The Smashing Machine” to the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1.
The WWE star was looking slimmer than usual at the event, where he received widespread acclaim from critics for his role as former mixed martial artist Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine.” The film also stars Emily Blunt at Kerr’s wife, Dawn Staples.
Johnson was spotted wiping away tears during a lengthy standing ovation at the premiere.
During a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Johnson said he was “really hungry” for a role that would allow him to transform.
Dwayne Johnson attends “The Smashing Machine” red carpet during the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1, 2025, in Venice, Italy.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have the career that I’ve had over the years and make the films that I’ve made,” he said. “But there was this voice inside of me, the little voice, (that thought), ‘What if? What if I could do more? I want to do more. What does that look like?'”
Johnson went on to reflect on his pivot from blockbuster entertainment to more serious fare.
See Dwayne Johnson transform into Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie-directed ‘The Smashing Machine’
“You chase the box office, and the box office, in our business that we know, is very loud, and it can be very resounding, and it can push you into a category and into a corner,” he said. “‘This is your lane, and this is what you do, and this is what people want you to be, and this what Hollywood wants you to be.’ I understood that, and I made those movies, and I liked them and they were fun.”
But Johnson continued, “I just had this burning desire and this voice that was saying, ‘What if? What if there is more? What if I can?’ … A lot of times it’s harder for us, or at least for me, to know what you’re capable of when you’ve been pigeonholed into something.”
The “Black Adam” star added that he “looked around a few years ago” and wondered, “Am I living my dream, or am I living other people’s dreams?”
Dwayne Johnson, left, and Emily Blunt attend “The Smashing Machine” red carpet during the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1, 2025 in Venice, Italy.
Johnson has earned acclaim in early reviews of “The Smashing Machine,” and some have predicted the film will earn him an Oscar nomination. The Hollywood Reporter’s Jordan Mintzer hailed the performance as Johnson’s “most absorbing turn yet,” comparing it to Mickey Rourke’s Oscar-nominated turn in “The Wrestler.”
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Deadline’s Damon Wise also called the performance “truly remarkable,” while Variety’s Owen Gleiberman deemed it “revelatory,” adding that “he seems like a new actor.”
An Academy Award nomination for Johnson would be the first for the actor, who has spent most of his career focused on making big-budget action films like “Furious 7” and “Black Adam.”
“The Smashing Machine” is set to hit theaters on Oct. 3.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did Dwayne Johnson slim down? The Rock shows off new look
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