Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says playing Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine” made him more empathetic.
The Smashing Machine, hitting theaters next month, stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as former MMA fighter Mark Kerr. The film follows Kerr’s journey in the world of combat sports and also sees him battle addiction and other struggles.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning, Johnson reflected on how the role made him a more empathetic person.
“I really realized that I think you’ll find interesting, and people watching, I think, will find this interesting. Becoming Mark Kerr really allowed me to become even more empathetic to the world. because I try to be empathetic. I try to not be too judgy. Wait and see. There might be context I’m missing out of something and or I don’t know what that person is going through. That was a big thing that I realized is that I was talking to Benny Safdie about that, like, ‘Hey, you never know what people are going through,’ right? They could seem like they have it together, especially a guy like Mark Kerr, he’s on top of the world. He’s a world champion. He’s the greatest fighter on the planet, and he looks like he’s capable, but he’s just dying on the inside. So, becoming Mark just allowed me to become even more empathetic, too. You just never know what people are going through.”
The film is set to premiere on October 3. It has been one of Dwayne Johnson’s top-rated projects on Rotten Tomatoes. The Rock also cried after the film received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.
Given the dramatic nature of this film, Dwayne Johnson has spoken in recent interviews about feeling pigeonholed in Hollywood. Learn more about that here.
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