Dwayne Johnson gets emotional over standing ovation at Venice Film Festival

Dwayne Johnson is finally sharing his unfiltered thoughts on the 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. 

The 53-year-old, who stars in Benny Safdie’s film The Smashing Machine, couldn’t help but shed tears over the overwhelming response as he embraced the director. 

The wrestler-turned-actor has made headlines for his role as Mark Kerr ahead of the film’s premiere at the festival on September 1. 

The film received an enthusiastic reception at the event, prompting The Rock to showcase his emotional investment in the project. 

At the premiere, the actor reflected: “I’ve been scared to go deep, intense, and raw until now—until I had this opportunity to make this film.” 

He continued, “When you’re in Hollywood, as we all know, it has become about the box office, and you end up chasing it. The box office in our business is very loud—it can be overwhelming.

"Sometimes it's hard to know what you're capable of when you've been pigeon-holed into something.”

On the professional front, Johnson has starred in multiple projects over the years, including The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, Furious 7, and Disney’s animated film Moana.