Dwayne Johnson tipped for Oscar for taking part in UFC fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine

US actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has stated he had a “burning need” to make a special sort of movie, after years of being “pigeon-holed” as a blockbuster star.

The 53-year-old could possibly be in line for the primary Oscar nomination of his profession for his function in The Smashing Machine, which has simply launched on the Venice Movie Pageant.

Johnson stated enjoying UFC fighter Mark Kerr within the film had “definitely modified my life”, including that the transformation was one thing he was “actually hungry to do”.

He advised journalists: “I have been scared to go deep and intense and uncooked till now, till I had this chance to do that.”

Johnson is greatest recognized for his roles in big-budget films resembling Jumanji, San Andreas, Black Adam, Moana, Baywatch and the Quick & Livid franchise.

The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie, sees Johnson reunite together with his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt, who performs Kerr’s girlfriend Daybreak Staples.

Requested about his motivation for taking over the function, Johnson defined: “I’ve needed this for a very long time.

“While you’re in Hollywood, as everyone knows, it had grow to be about field workplace and also you chase the field workplace. And the field workplace in our enterprise may be very loud, it may be very [overwhelming].

“It could possibly push you right into a nook and class – ‘That is your lane, that is what you do, and that is what folks need you to be and that is what Hollywood desires you to be’.

“And I understood that, and I made these films and I preferred them they usually had been enjoyable, and a few had been actually good and did effectively, and a few not so good!” he laughed.

“However I feel what I did realise is I simply had this burning need and this voice that was simply saying, ‘what if there’s extra, what if I can?’

“Typically it is onerous to know what you are able to whenever you’ve been pigeon-holed into one thing. It is more durable to know ‘wait, can I do this? I really feel like I can’. And generally it takes individuals who you’re keen on and respect to say ‘you may’.”

Johnson, also called The Rock from his personal earlier profession in wrestling, added he did not assume enjoying the function was “about something to show to Hollywood as a lot as it’s for me, internally”.

Johnson has been praised by critics in early opinions of the movie. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman described his efficiency as “a revelation”, including that he “looks as if a brand new actor”.

In a four-star evaluation, the Telegraph’s Robbie Collin stated: “His efficiency is heat, honest and admirably ego-less, whereas some phenomenally delicate facial prosthetics alter his look simply sufficient that you simply see his character, relatively than The Rock, looming up on the display screen.”

IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio concluded: “Whereas The Smashing Machine would not play like straightforward awards catnip, Johnson earns a sizeable place amongst this yr’s prize-seekers.”

Usually in a Dwayne Johnson movie, you are by no means greater than about 4 minutes away from the following explosion or automotive chase.

The Smashing Machine is a special kettle of fish, specializing in the world of the Final Preventing Championship and the way distinguished a determine Kerr was within the early years of the game within the Nineties.

As defined early within the movie, UFC entails every kind of combating in the identical ring. One fighter is perhaps a boxer, whereas his opponent might come from a wrestling or karate background. Roughly something goes within the battle to be the final one standing.

“Round that point, there was one thing so experimental about what was occurring,” explains director Safdie, one half of the Safdie brothers, whose display screen credit embrace Uncut Gems.

“You had all of those totally different martial arts kinds competing in opposition to each other, and it was simply such a novel sport.

“And it was additionally such a close-knit group the place everyone knew each other and cherished each other, and to have that contradiction of this combating world however this love between them was one thing that was actually stunning to me, and I needed to discover that.”

The movie has loads of combat scenes, however its major focus is outdoors of the ring, exploring Kerr’s mild nature, his battle with substance abuse, and his complicated relationship with Daybreak, performed by Blunt.

The actress describes Johnson as a “expensive pal”, including: “Some of the extraordinary issues was seeing him fully disappear, it was spooky.”

Discussing her personal character, Blunt stated: “I used to be delighted there was a lady within the midst of it, as a result of there was lots occurring behind closed doorways of what it means to reside with a fighter and the all-consuming world that comes with that.

“I bought to know Daybreak effectively and she or he was very beneficiant together with her story with me, the total climate system of it, the regrets, the eruptions, the hazardous nature of the connection at instances, and the deep, profound love and devotion that they had to one another amid an unimaginable surroundings.

“So I feel it was an extremely thrilling relationship to placed on display screen. I would been a part of plenty of [on-screen] relationships that primarily are a movie-fied relationship, and this simply felt like the total spectrum of what a relationship actually seems to be like.”

Set between 1997 and 2000, The Smashing Machine will get its title from the nickname given to Kerr after one among his early event victories. An HBO documentary about Kerr with the identical title was launched in 2002.

Johnson first met Kerr within the Nineties when he was a wrestler himself. He semi-retired from the game in 2004 to give attention to his Hollywood profession, occurring to grow to be one of many trade’s most bankable stars.

“I bear in mind speaking to [Kerr] again then and being so enamoured and respecting of his profession, and it is so wild how years later life can come full circle on this unimaginable method,” Johnson notes.

The actor stated he is grow to be “very shut” to Kerr, who he describes as “a strolling contradiction for a person who at one time was the best fighter on the planet, but additionally essentially the most variety, mild, tender, empathetic [person]”.

Awards pundits will likely be watching intently to see how Johnson’s movie is acquired, however the star joins a greatest actor race that’s stacked with A-listers this yr.

Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Jesse Plemons, Timothee Chalamet and Jeremy Allen White are among the many huge names who could possibly be competing with Johnson.

Solely a small variety of these stars will make all of it the way in which to the Oscars, though a number of of them could possibly be recognised on the extra celebrity-skewing Golden Globes, which has extra slots accessible. The race will begin to crystallise as extra of the movies premiere within the coming weeks.

Reflecting on his success since leaving wrestling, Johnson stated: “I’ve been very lucky to have the profession I’ve had over time and make the movies that I’ve made. However there was this voice within me that stated ‘what if I might do extra?'”

He continued: “The reality is, I regarded round a couple of years in the past and began to assume, ‘am I residing my dream or am I residing different folks’s goals?’

“And also you come to that recognition and you may both fall in line, go ‘it is established order, issues are good’, or you may go, ‘no, I wanna reside my goals now and do what I wish to do, and faucet into the issues I wish to faucet into and have a spot to place all these items that I’ve skilled up to now that I’ve shied away from’.”