CNN —
Dwayne Johnson is soon heading to theaters in what might be the most dramatic role of his career so far.
In “The Smashing Machine,” Johnson will play MMA and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, who was the subject of a 2002 HBO documentary that chronicled his substance abuse and explored the brutality of the sport to which he’d dedicated his life.
The new trailer for “The Smashing Machine,” released Tuesday by A24, hits on those themes and more, also highlighting Kerr’s tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend, played in the film by Johnson’s former “Jungle Cruise” co-star Emily Blunt.
“Winning is the best feeling in the word,” Johnson as Kerr says in the trailer. “It’s 40,000 people in there cheering you on. There’s no other high like it in the world.”
Though he has yet to speak specifically about his physical transformation for the role, Johnson appears to have used facial prosthetics to help him more closely resemble Kerr, whose 12-year career took off in the late ’90s.
The new film marks a more dramatic turn from Johnson, who is best known for his high-octane action fare like “San Andreas,” “Skyscraper,” and is certainly not what audiences might be accustomed to seeing from him.
That, he told GQ last year, was apparently the point of playing Kerr.
“It was also an opportunity for me, I realized, to stretch myself in ways that I hadn’t been stretched yet,” he told the publication. “And also challenge myself in ways that I hadn’t been challenged.”
Johnson’s most recent theatrical release was last year’s “Moana 2,” in which he once against lent his voice as Maui.
He has also been more active in the wrestling ring in recent years after making a surprise return to WWE in 2023. Last year, he joined the board of directors for TKO Group Holdings, the company consisting of the recently merged WWE and UFC. Following the WWE’s partnership with Netflix, he made a much-hyped appearance at the January debut of WWE Raw on the streaming platform.
“The Smashing Machine,” out October 3, comes from writer/director Benny Safdie, who marks his solo film directorial debut with the movie. He is best known for working alongside his brother Josh, co-directing the acclaimed “Uncut Gems,” among other films.
