The Rock has a soft spot after all.
Dwayne Johnson, 53, was brought to tears on Monday night after his newest movie, “The Smashing Machine,” received a 15-minute standing ovation and sparked Oscar buzz following its premiere at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, per Variety.
The film, directed by Bennie Safdie and starring Johnson as former amateur wrestler-turned-MMA fighter Mark Kerr, reportedly received one of the longest ovations yet since this year’s international film fest kicked off on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
According to the outlet, Safdie, 39, hugged both Johnson and Emily Blunt amid the applause while shedding tears of his own. Blunt co-stars in the upcoming flick as Kerr’s now-ex-wife, Dawn Staples.
But the “Mummy” star and “Uncut Gems” director were not alone in their sobs of joy, because Kerr, who made a special appearance at the film’s premiere on the Lido, was also caught tearing up as the credits rolled and the audience stood in acknowledgement.
Johnson, meanwhile, was said to be in good spirits even before “The Smashing Machine” hit the Venice Film Festival screen.
After the “Fast & Furious” star arrived on the red carpet with Blunt, 42, he reportedly signed autographs and posed for selfies with excited fans.
One fan, who has seemingly followed the Rock since his days as a professional wrestler, shouted out Johnson’s signature WWE catchphrase shortly before the screening officially kicked off.
“Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?!” the person screamed.
However, Johnson made headlines even before “The Smashing Machine” received an impressive 15-minute ovation, because he arrived at the event with a new, slimmed-down physique.
The “Jumanji” star’s weight and muscle loss came as a surprise to many, and fans on social media have started to call him “The Pebble” in the wake of his shocking body transformation.
“Damn, he’s half of what he was!” one person wrote after Johnson’s new physique went viral.
“Wow nice transformation,” another wrote.
Earlier on Monday, during the film’s press conference, Johnson opened up about his decision to team up with Safdie to portray Kerr in “The Smashing Machine.”
“When you’re in Hollywood – as we all know, it had become about box office,” he began. “And you chase the box office, and the box office can be very loud and it can become very resounding and it can push you into a category and into a corner.”
“I just had this burning desire and voice that was saying, ‘What if there is more and what if I can?’” Johnson continued. “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.”
Johnson then thanked Safdie and Blunt for helping him realize his “dream” of portraying Kerr on the big screen.
“Sometimes it takes people who you love and respect, like Emily and Benny, to say that you can,” he said. “I’ve been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land ’
