At the Venice Film Festival, Dwayne Johnson surprised audiences with his most vulnerable performance yet in The Smashing Machine. The actor, long associated with blockbuster action, embraced a role that critics are already calling a career-defining revelation.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said Monday he had turned his heavily muscled back on action movie roles to be able to express himself as an actor in his latest film The Smashing Machine, which premiered in Venice.
The 53-year-old was the day's star attraction at the Venice Film Festival — his first appearance at a European festival — where he mixed with arthouse directors and independent movie fans on the Lido.
The Fast and Furious star told reporters that he'd taken on previous roles for commercial reasons and "the box office in our business is very loud and it can be very resounding and it can push you into a category and into a corner."
"I understood that, and I made those movies ... some were really good and did well, and some not so," the wrestler-turned-actor confided.
"I just had this burning desire and this voice that was saying 'Well, what if? What if there is more and what if I can?'"
On paper, the role in The Smashing Machine by US director Benny Safdie was tailor-made: Johnson plays wrestler Mark Kerr, a real-life former mixed martial-arts fighter in the 1990s and 2000s.
But Kerr — in a contrast to many of Johnson's previous roles — is a flawed and nuanced character with a sometimes toxic relationship with his girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt).
"The film isn't about fighting. It's a love story about Mark and Dawn and his relationship," Johnson said, while also revealing he had had to bulk up for the role at Safdie's request.
In its review, film bible Variety called Johnson a "revelation," adding that "he seems like a new actor."
Elsewhere on Monday, Mona Fastvold, one half of the star writer-director couple behind Oscar-winning The Brutalist, showcased her new movie The Testament of Ann Lee about the founder of the radical Shakers religious sect in the 1700s.
Packed with music, singing and dance, the feature was co-written by Fastvold and partner Brady Corbet, who used Venice last year to launch The Brutalist that went on to win three Oscars, including a best actor award for Adrien Brody.
Fastvold embraced tearful lead actress Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls, Mank) during a long standing ovation at the end of the projection.
"I don't subscribe to all of Ann Lee's ideas, but I think that the way she leads with empathy and kindness and wanted to create a space where everyone was equal ... I think that is really important to talk about now," Fastvold told reporters earlier.
Also at the festival on Monday, Hollywood actress Kim Novak, 92, received a standing ovation when presented with a lifetime achievement award.
Novak played the chilling dual role of suicidal blonde Madeleine Elster and brunette shop girl Judy Barton in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo from 1958.
The Smashing Machine and The Testament of Ann Lee are among 21 films vying for the top Golden Lion prize at Venice, which will be handed out on Saturday.
As well as The Brutalist, several other recent winners at Venice, such as Nomadland and Joker, have subsequently gone on to Oscar glory, making the Italian festival a key launching pad.
By Adam PLOWRIGHT and Alexandria SAGE / AFP
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