'It Had Become About Box Office' — Dwayne Johnson Says He Was 'Pigeon-Holed' as a Blockbuster-Only Actor

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson says helium was “pigeon-holed” arsenic an histrion who could lone look successful blockbusters, which is 1 of the reasons helium wanted to prima arsenic UFC combatant Mark Kerr successful The Smashing Machine.

The Smashing Machine sees Johnson represent the beingness and vocation of Mark Kerr, a erstwhile wrestler and UFC prima who struggled with substance abuse. Emily Blunt plays Kerr’s then-wife, Dawn Staples. Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie is the writer and manager of the A24 film, which hits theaters October 3, 2025.

Johnson is astir unrecognizable arsenic Kerr. He does not person his tattoos, but helium does person hair. You tin spot however Johnson compares to Kerr below.

Mark Kerr successful 1997. Image credit: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.

Dwayne Johnson arsenic Mark Kerr successful The Smashing Machine.

While promoting the movie astatine the Venice Film Festival, the erstwhile wrestling prima said helium wants to "live my dreams now" aft "living different people's dreams."

Dwayne Johnson kicked disconnected his hugely palmy acting vocation arsenic The Scorpion King successful 2001’s The Mummy Returns. His agelong database of blockbuster movie roles see Lucas "Luke" Hobbs successful the Fast & Furious franchise, Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone successful the Jumaniji reboot movies, and Black Adam successful the present defunct DC Extended Universe. Johnson besides famously voiced Maui successful the Moana animated movies, and is acceptable to play the quality successful Disney's upcoming live-action version.

The Smashing Machine, however, marks a important alteration for Johnson, who immoderate are saying could beryllium in-line for his archetypal Oscar information arsenic a result. As reported by the BBC, the 53-year-old said: "I've been frightened to spell heavy and aggravated and earthy until now, until I had this accidental to bash this."

He continued: "I person wanted this for a agelong time. When you're successful Hollywood, arsenic we each know, it had go astir container bureau and you pursuit the container office. And the container bureau successful our concern is precise loud, it tin beryllium precise [overwhelming].

"It tin propulsion you into a country and class — 'This is your lane, this is what you do, and this is what radical privation you to beryllium and this is what Hollywood wants you to be.’

"And I understood that, and I made those movies and I liked them and they were fun, and immoderate were truly bully and did well, and immoderate not truthful good!

"But I deliberation what I did realise is I conscionable had this burning tendency and this dependable that was conscionable saying, 'What if there's more, what if I can?'

"Sometimes it's hard to cognize what you're susceptible of erstwhile you've been pigeon-holed into something. It's harder to know, 'Wait, tin I bash that? I consciousness similar I can.’ And sometimes it takes radical who you emotion and respect to accidental 'you can.’"

Johnson added: "I person been precise fortunate to person the vocation I've had implicit the years and marque the films that I've made. But determination was this dependable wrong of maine that said, 'What if I could bash more?'

"The information is, I looked astir a fewer years agone and started to think, 'Am I surviving my imagination oregon americium I surviving different people's dreams?'

"And you travel to that designation and you tin either autumn successful line, go, 'It's presumption quo, things are good,’ oregon you tin go, 'No, I wanna unrecorded my dreams present and bash what I privation to do, and pat into the things I privation to pat into and person a spot to enactment each this worldly that I've experienced successful the past that I've shied distant from.’"

Photo by Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/WireImage.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].