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Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Entertainment
Philip Sledge

‘I Don't Know If You've Ever Been Asked This Before, But I Think You Need To Gain More Weight’: Dwayne Johnson On The Major Transformation He Made For The Smashing Machine

Dwayne Johnson The Rock Mark Kerr Benny Safdie Pride UFC
Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine.

There has been a ton of buzz surrounding Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, in the lead-up to its debut on the 2025 movie schedule. The vast majority of that concerns Dwayne Johnson, who had to go to great lengths to pull off his “jaw-dropping” transformation to play the trailblazing UFC and PRIDE fighter Mark Kerr.

Ahead of The Smashing Machine’s October release, the wrestler-turned-actor sat down for a chat with CinemaBlend, where he discussed several aspects of the upcoming A24 movie, including his those tree trunk legs that have been taking the world by storm. When asked about bulking up to new levels for the “scarily unstable” performance, Johnson recalled an early conversation with his director about putting on weight and muscle:

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