Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been hard at work preparing for his starring role in Mark Carr's biopic Smashing Machine, and he just released footage from his first day of MMA training camp.
Mark Carr is an NCAA Division I wrestling champion who used his skill set to hit people in the early days of No Holds Barred. He won back-to-back UFC heavyweight tournaments and then moved to Japan's PRIDE FC, where he became known as one of the top fighters due to his size and physicality. However, everything started to fall apart around 2000 due to mental and physical problems caused by Kerr's steroid use.
All of this is captured in the award-winning 2002 HBO documentary The Smashing Machine. Twenty years later, indie studio A24 is retelling the story in The Rock, starring Carr. To prepare for the role, Johnson spends a lot of time practicing the wrestling and ground-and-pound skills needed to realistically play a cage fighter in the ring.
“I am learning every day. Entering this world of martial arts and becoming two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion and Valitudo World Champion Mark Carr has been a very humbling, intense and motivating experience. It’s been an uplifting journey,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “I'm a hard worker, but I realized that I had to work harder to play this role than any other role I've ever worked in my life.”
“This physicality is just part of a larger journey, and it's truly a team effort. I'm growing and grateful.”
The role came at a time when Johnson's reputation as Hollywood's golden boy was under attack. The Wrap's scathing, detailed report on 'The Rock' shows the WWE superstar showing up hours late to the movie set, adding $50 million to the production cost of the new Christmas action movie 'Red One.' I accused him of taking it. There was also a bizarre story about Dwayne peeing in a bottle on set and leaving it for the crew to clean up.
Although Johnson's representatives deny that these stories are true, there is ample evidence that “The Rock” is a difficult actor to compete for in terms of scheduling, and he was cast in the low-budget A24 This may cause production problems.
But hey, maybe he didn't say anything about Fast X or Red One, but The Smashing Machine is clearly a passion project. For now, Johnson is clearly firmly locked into the role and is intent on building the best smashing machine possible. It will be difficult for him to top his 2002 version, but I look forward to seeing the final result either way.