“It’s my first time in Venice,” Dwayne Johnson told the audience this morning as gingerly he entered the room for the official presser for his competition title The Smashing Machine.
The veteran WWE fighter turned actor was joined at the presser by his co-star, Emily Blunt, and director Benny Safdie. The film, which debuts this evening in Venice, marks Safdie’s first outing as a solo director.
The film follows fighter Mark Kerr (Johnson) from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career as he questions himself and struggles with life and his relationships. Meanwhile, Mark’s girlfriend Dawn Staples (Blunt) struggles as well to find her place in Mark’s chaotic and contradictory world.
On why he decided to tackle mixed martial arts with a story set in the 1990s, Safdie told the crowd in Venice: “At that time period, there was something so experimental about what was going on. You had all of these different martial arts forms competing against one another, and it was just such a unique sport.”
Safdie added: “It was also such a close-knit community, where everybody knew one another and everybody loved one another, and there was such a closeness amongst them, and to have that contradiction of this fighting world, but this love between them was something that was really beautiful to me, and I wanted to explore that.”
During the presser, Johnson spoke consistently about how this film quenched his longtime desire to challenge himself as an actor and push past his reputation as a performer who is only suitable for blockbuster flicks.
“When you’re in Hollywood, it becomes about box office. And you chase the box office. And the box office in our business can be very resounding, and it could push you into a category,” Johnson said.
“I made those movies, and I liked them. They were fun. Some were really good and did well. And some not so much. But what I did realize is that I had this burning desire, and a voice in my head that said, What if there is more?”
Johnson added that when you’re “pigeonholed” as an actor, it becomes increasingly difficult to push yourself artistically. He said it is only possible to switch directions when “people who you love and you respect, like Emily and Benny, say, you can do it.”
Mark Kerr was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, a Pride FC heavyweight champion, 1992 NCAA national wrestling champion, 1994 National Freestyle Champion, and 4x ADCC World Submission Champion. In 2003, he was the subject of an HBO documentary titled The Smashing Machine, which detailed his MMA career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC, and Pride.
On her role as Kerr’s girlfriend, Dawn Staples, Blunt said she was “delighted that there was a woman in the midst” of the violent MMA world.
“There was a lot going on behind closed doors of what it means to live with a fighter and be with a fighter. The all-consuming world of that,” Blunt said. “I got to know Dawn well, and she was very generous with her story, with me, the full weather system of it, the regrets, the eruptions, the hazardous nature of the relationship at times, and the deep, profound love and devotion they had to each other amidst an impossible environment.”
Blunt said her Smashing Machine role was distinct from many other roles she’s played, which she said were more “curated” movie arc relationships. Smashing Machine, she said, provided a more “full spectrum of what a relationship really looks like,” including both ups and downs.
“It was just exciting to be able to work like that with Benny’s visceral way of shooting that was so spontaneous, so it was just like the guardrails came off for us every day,” Blunt added.
Producers on The Smashing Machine include Safdie via his Out for the Count banner, and Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia for Seven Bucks Productions. David Koplan and Eli Bush are also producers. Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk round out the film’s cast.
A24 will release the film theatrically on October 3.
Venice runs until September 6.
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