Dwayne Johnson ‘scared’ to portray ‘The Smashing’ role: Here’s why

Dwayne Johnson has recently opened up about challenging role of his career in The Smashing Machine movie.

The wrestler-turned-actor explained why he was scared to portray legendary MMA fighter and two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion Mark Kerr in the Benny Safdie directed biopic.

“It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?” said the 53-year-old in a new interview with Vanity Fair.

The Rock revealed that he realised “maybe these opportunities weren’t coming” his way because he was “too scared to explore this stuff”.

“I was so hungry for an opportunity to do something raw and gritty and rip myself open. And all of a sudden, Smashing Machine comes along,” stated the Red Notice actor.

Elsewhere in the interview, Dwayne shared the hardest part of his role preparation was to don over a dozen prosthetics to depict his fighter role on big screens.

“I just sat in front of that mirror for three to four hours and watched it all change,” continued the Jungle Cruise actor.

Dwayne further said that there were about “13 or 14 different prosthetics. Subtle, yet I think very impactful”.

“By the time I got to set, I was Mark Kerr and I felt it, from how he walked to how he talked and how he looked at life,” concluded the Moana 2 actor.

Meanwhile, The Smashing Machine, which also stars Emily Blunt will release in theatres nationwide on October 3.