TORONTO – Dwayne Johnson was given an unusual order for his latest role: The muscular actor and pro wrestler was asked to gain weight and get bigger.
That was just part of the transformation into former mixed-martial arts champion Mark Kerr in director Benny Safdie’s sports drama “The Smashing Machine” (in theaters Oct. 3). Johnson’s all-in portrayal is not only earning a ton of Oscar buzz, it also fooled the real Kerr.
The first time he saw Johnson in full facial prosthetics – including blunt trauma-induced “cauliflower ears” – Kerr turned around and “he’s standing right behind me and it’s me!” Kerr said in a post-premiere Q&A at Toronto Film Festival. “All I could do was cuss at him. It was so surreal.”
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“Smashing Machine” takes place in Kerr’s life between 1997 and 2000, where the MMA fighter rose to prominence but also had to fight demons including drug addiction. He has girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt) by his side, yet they also weather severe ups and downs when it comes to their personal life and his career.
Kerr was a “walking contradiction of being this incredible fighter but also a really beautiful human being who was loving and kind and sweet. And in ways, broken and trying,” Johnson said, before telling Kerr, “Your life has changed mine. I love you so much, brother.”
Mark Kerr (left) and Dwayne Johnson pose on the red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of “The Smashing Machine.”
“I had waited for this opportunity for such a long time, to do something that challenged myself,” Johnson said of the role. “I pushed for more and I wanted more.”
Safdie wanting Johnson to add extra weight to his action-hero frame was a major part of the transformation. At one time, Kerr was a “rare air adonis,” said Johnson, with “an incredible body that was built through hard work and sweat and respect.”
The actor also worked with a coach to capture Kerr’s voice (“Mark speaks in a very soft and beautiful way, a kind and gentle, tender soul”) and spent four hours a day having up to 14 facial prosthetics applied, one of the most “anchoring” parts of the process.
Johnson and Kerr first met in the late 1990s when “we were on completely different trajectories in our lives,” Kerr recalled. “He goes on to be ‘The Rock,’ and there’s very few places on the planet you can go that don’t know who he is.”
The former MMA fighter said this is “the perfect vehicle” for Johnson as he charts a different path in his career. “It allowed him to be completely something that nobody else expects,” Kerr said. “It’s difficult, especially when people are like, ‘You’re only this, you’re only that.’ I would tell him, you don’t have to do this. And he goes, ‘Yes I do. I got to.’ “
And Johnson took his knocks, literally, for his dream role. Filming a scene where he gets a vicious left hook from Yoko Hamamura, who plays one of Kerr’s challengers, they went back and forth as to how much of a real punch it should be. Then Bas Rutten, an ex-MMA fighter who plays Mark’s trainer in the movie, entered the chat.
“I got fed up like, ‘Hey, Yoko, come on. It’s The Rock. Hit him in the freaking head, OK?’ ” Rutten said. “DJ goes, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa here. Yoko’s a professional fighter. You can hit me hard, but don’t knock me out.’ Well, that part’s in the trailer, and every time I see it, I laugh because he hit too hard.”
Johnson can confirm. “So you’ll see in the movie where I look dazed, it’s real.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Smashing Machine’ Dwayne Johnson transforms into Mark Kerr
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