{"id":1992058,"date":"2025-09-02T00:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T00:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1992058"},"modified":"2025-09-02T00:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T00:29:08","slug":"dwayne-the-rock-johnson-sobs-over-15-minute-standing-ovation-for-smashing-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-sobs-over-15-minute-standing-ovation-for-smashing-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Dwayne \u2018The Rock\u2019 Johnson sobs over 15-minute standing ovation for \u2018Smashing Machine\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F09%2F110514044.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Rock has a soft spot after all.<\/p>\n<p>Dwayne Johnson, 53, was brought to tears on Monday night after his newest movie, \u201cThe Smashing Machine,\u201d received a 15-minute standing ovation and sparked Oscar buzz following its premiere at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, per <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/film\/festivals\/the-rock-venice-smashing-machine-premiere-standing-ovation-1236493253\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson at the Venice Film Festival premiere of \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">Anna Maria Tinghino \/ SplashNews.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Johnson and Emily Blunt at the Venice Film Festival premiere of \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The film, directed by Bennie Safdie and starring Johnson as former\u00a0amateur wrestler-turned-MMA fighter\u00a0Mark Kerr, reportedly received one of the longest ovations yet since this year\u2019s international film fest kicked off on Wednesday, Aug. 27.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s now-ex-wife, Dawn Staples.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But the \u201cMummy\u201d star and \u201cUncut Gems\u201d director were not alone in their sobs of joy, because Kerr, who made a special appearance at the film\u2019s premiere on the Lido, was also caught tearing up as the credits rolled and the audience stood in acknowledgement.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Johnson at the Venice Film Festival premiere of \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">Simone Comi\/ipa-agency.net\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Mark Kerr and Johnson attend the Venice Film Festival premiere of \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Johnson, meanwhile, was said to be in good spirits even before \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d hit the Venice Film Festival screen.<\/p>\n<p>After the \u201cFast &amp; Furious\u201d star arrived on the red carpet with Blunt, 42, he reportedly signed autographs and posed for selfies with excited fans.<\/p>\n<p>One fan, who has seemingly followed the Rock since his days as a professional wrestler, shouted out Johnson\u2019s signature WWE catchphrase shortly before the screening officially kicked off.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Johnson at the Venice premiere of \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">Rocco Spaziani\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cCan you smell what the Rock is cooking?!\u201d the person screamed.<\/p>\n<p>However, Johnson made headlines even before \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d received an impressive 15-minute ovation, because he arrived at the event with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/09\/01\/entertainment\/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-shocks-with-slimmed-down-physique-for-the-smashing-machine\/\">a new, slimmed-down physique.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The \u201cJumanji\u201d star\u2019s weight and muscle loss came as a surprise to many, and fans on social media have <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2025\/09\/01\/celebrity-news\/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-stuns-fans-with-new-slimmed-down-physique\/\">started to call him \u201cThe Pebble\u201d<\/a> in the wake of his shocking body transformation.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Johnson arrives at the press conference for \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">Alessandro Bremec\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cDamn, he\u2019s half of what he was!\u201d one person wrote after Johnson\u2019s new physique went viral.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWow nice transformation,\u201d another wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on Monday, during the film\u2019s press conference, Johnson opened up about his decision to team up with Safdie to portray Kerr in \u201cThe Smashing Machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emily Blunt and Johnson at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emily Blunt and Johnson at the Venice premiere of \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d on Monday, Sept. 1. <span class=\"credit\">Simone Comi\/ipa-agency.net\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"letter-spacing: -0.16px\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re in Hollywood \u2013 as we all know, it had become about box office,\u201d he began. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just had this burning desire and voice that was saying, \u2018What if there is more and what if I can?&#8217;\u201d Johnson continued. \u201cA lot of times, it\u2019s harder for us \u2013 or at least for me \u2013 to know what you\u2019re capable of when you\u2019ve been pigeonholed into something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson then thanked Safdie and Blunt for helping him realize his \u201cdream\u201d of portraying Kerr on the big screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes it takes people who you love and respect, like Emily and Benny, to say that you can,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Rock has a soft spot after all. Dwayne Johnson, 53, was brought to tears on Monday night after his newest movie, \u201cThe Smashing Machine,\u201d received a 15-minute standing ovation and sparked Oscar buzz following its premiere at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, per Variety. Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson at the Venice Film Festival premiere [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1992059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[21751,360095,305874,313617,21741,344473,333428],"class_list":["post-1992058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-celebrities","tag-dwayne-the-rock-johnson","tag-dwayne-johnson","tag-emily-blunt","tag-entertainment","tag-oscars","tag-venice-film-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Dwayne-\u2018The-Rock-Johnson-sobs-over-15-minute-standing-ovation-for.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1992059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}