Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt Had ‘Immediate Secret Language’ as ‘Fast Friends’

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt formed a fast friendship.

During an “In Conversation with…” panel at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, Sept. 8, The Smashing Machine costars spoke about their experience working together on 2021’s Jungle Cruise and their friendship off camera. 

When asked about their connection, Blunt said, “We just became very fast friends, like an immediate secret language, which I think you feel with certain people that you work with.”

Blunt recalled a memory of filming in Hawaii with Johnson, “We just talked and shared our souls. And I was just really taken by, I guess, how different he was from what I had imagined.”

“He was so gentle and quite interior and sort of contemplative and kind, just easy. Like, so lovely to be around, funny and quick, all these qualities,” she said. 

Johnson added, “I also want to give Emily her flowers too. She is one of the greatest actors of our time — of all time. And also one of my best friends.”

“In order to go to the place we were going to go, you have to have love, and then you have to have trust. And the love and the trust then allow for vulnerability. We could not have done that without this love and trust and vulnerability that we have.”

“I want to thank you, because you are the greatest,” he said. 

Smashing Machine follows the career of MMA and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, played by Johnson. 

The biopic depicts Kerr’s career from his glory days as a pioneer of MMA and UFC to his struggles with his addiction to painkillers. Smashing Machine also gives audiences an inside look into Kerr’s relationship with his now-ex-wife Dawn, played by Blunt. 

The pair wowed the audience at the Smashing Machine premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 1. Their powerful performances prompted a 15-minute standing ovation, and the wrestler-turned-actor was seen tearfully applauding. 

Benny Safdie, known for Good Time and Uncut Gems, is the director and writer of Smashing Machine. It marks his first film as a solo director. Johnson and Safdie are to reunite for another film, Lizard Music.

The Smashing Machine is in theaters Oct. 3.