Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, is making a career change to star in a new movie by indie director Benny Safdie.

Johnson wants to push himself and make films that explore humanity and struggle, moving away from his safe, family-friendly image.

The movie, titled The Smashing Machine, is about the life and struggles of former UFC champion Mark Kerr and will tackle addiction and the challenges faced by professional fighters.

Dwayne Johnson is a Hollywood megastar these days. And younger fans may not even remember that the man who still goes by the moniker of The Rock didn’t get that nickname by chance — the man is a nailed-on Hall of Famer in WWE, where he started his entertainment career nearly 30 years ago. But while the People’s Champion may well be returning to the Squared Circle to face his cousin Roman Reigns — who appeared in Hobbs and Shaw with Johnson while recovering from leukaemia — next month at WWE’s Elimination Chamber, he’s switching combat sports to play Mark Kerr in a new movie from indie darling Benny Safdie, in a daring career change.

Following something of a career reinvention in the early 2010s, following a spate of failed projects, Johnson embraced the muscular, heroic side that he had attempted to shed post-wrestling, and wound up being the best thing in a number of franchise movies like Fast Five, GI Joe: The Rise of COBRA and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. The success of these films created a Rock brand itself, and while Johnson hasn’t truly cemented himself as a true box office draw alone, he’s still a safe pair of hands for a family-friendly big-budget film.

Critics might say that this safe approach has grown stale, and it could well be something Johnson agrees with, as he told Variety during a feature on Safdie. He believes the time has come in his career for a new direction and feels the man behind anxiety-inducing films like Good Time and Uncut Gems is the man to push him to a new level of performance, adding that he wants to “make films that matter.”
“Benny wants to create, and continues to push the envelope when it comes to stories that are raw and real, characters that are authentic and at times uncomfortable and arresting. I’m at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I’ve not pushed myself in the past. I’m at a point in my career where I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain.”

What is ‘The Smashing Machine’ About and Who is Mark Kerr?

Mark Kerr, known as ‘The Smashing Machine’ during his career, is a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion. Kerr was also featured in a documentary also titled The Smashing Machine which chronicled his life and struggles, including issues with drug addiction and the challenges faced by professional fighters.

The film will also confront Kerr’s triumphs in the Octagon as well as his addiction to painkillers, and A24, the studio behind the film, is already labelling it as the Rock’s “most dramatic project and role yet.” Not that this means Johnson is giving up his golden goose of family fare that brings home the bacon.

“I want to be clear not to say that this is an abandonment of big, four-quadrant movies,” he said. “I love making them, and there is tremendous value and importance in [them] … but there’s a time and a place for them. I’m at this point in my career where I want more. And I don’t mean I want more box office. I mean I want more humanity. And that is why Benny Safdie is the perfect, collaborative, hungry partner for me.”