Emily Blunt Calls Dwayne Johnson’s Role in ‘The Smashing Machine’ ‘Life-Changing’

Emily Blunt is in awe of Dwayne Johnson‘s performance in The Smashing Machine.

In an interview with Net-a-Porter, published on Monday, Sept. 1, Blunt, 42, Johnson’s costar in the sports biopic, raved about how “life-changing” the role of former UFC fighter Mark Kerr has been for her friend.

“I think this has been life-changing for him,” the actress said of Johnson, 53, who is making a rare foray into dramatic acting as Kerr, 56. “This is a man who’s never allowed to disappear, and it’s so moving for me as his friend, and as an actor, to watch someone discover what they’re capable of.”

The Smashing Machine received whopping 15-minute standing ovation following its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. Videos from inside the screening hall in Venice showed Johnson and the movie’s writer-director Benny Safdie shedding tears as they received the standing ovation. Blunt, who is a longtime friend of Johnson’s and previously costarred with him in 2021’s Jungle Cruise, told Net-a-Porter that she believes the actor has never been given an opportunity to embrace a dramatic side in his onscreen career.

“I’ve always felt this about Dwayne: there’s this well of life experience and pain and struggle and resilience and mental fortitude and deep vulnerability that has never been given space to come out,” Blunt told the outlet. “It must be heavy being The Rock; everyone thinks it must be pretty great, but I think it must be heavy, too – and quite a lot to uphold that infrastructure.”

The Smashing Machine shares its title with a 2002 documentary on Kerr’s life, which focused on the mental and physical toll MMA fighting takes on its competitors. In August, Johnson told Vanity Fair that he dove into “stuff that I had not explored on camera or otherwise” in portraying Kerr.

Johnson made an A-List name for himself in Hollywood as the centerpiece of action and comedy movies, but he said at a press conference in Venice on Sept. 1 that making this film gave him an opportunity to “live my dreams.”

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“I looked around a few years ago and I started to think… am I living my dream or am I living other people’s dreams?” Johnson said during the press conference. “And, you know, you come to that recognition. And I think you could either fall in line and, well, it’s status quo. Things are good. I don’t want to rock the boat or go, you know what? I want to live my dreams now and do what I want and tap into the stuff that I want to tap into.”

The Smashing Machine opens in theaters Oct. 3.