I must admit that having fed on a rather unhealthy diet of Smackdown and Raw, I spent a ridiculously long amount of time in my adolescent years sniffing the air, cocking my head while trying to Smell What The Rock Was Cooking, and mastering that menacing one-raised-eyebrow look. The Rock to me was the epitome of raw masculine energy and showmanship. The machismo and charisma of the ten-time WWE champion with his penchant for drama satisfied the kid in me who was smitten by He-Man. His fights with Triple H and John Cena were legendary, but my favourite was The Rock Vs Stone Cold… And that's the bottom line, 'cause Stone Cold said So’ (you know if you know!). But soon, while still at the peak of his career, The Rock left WWE to pursue an acting career in Hollywood (and I moved on from The Rock to The Brock… Lesner). It had then baffled me why a wrestler would even think of a career in acting—those were innocent times, and we had no reason to doubt the authenticity of those gory ladder-, chair-, table-, and human-breaking fights.
My next rendezvous with The Rock was as Scorpion King in the 2001 Brendan Fraser-starrer, The Mummy Returns. It was a brief role, but served as a prequel to the 2002 spin-off, The Scorpion King—a movie that established him as a Hollywood leading man and marked his transition from The Rock to Dwayne Johnson, who eventually became one of Hollywood’s most bankable action stars.
Cut to 2025. Dwayne Johnson’s lucrative Hollywood career will mark its Silver Jubilee next year. And for me, the only distinguishable character played by him thus far was that of Maui [He voiced the character] in Disney's animated Moana franchise. Long story short, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was always about charisma, his larger-than-life personality, and his superlative humour-laced communication skills—whether in the ring or in a movie.
So, when he grabbed eyeballs at the 2025 Venice Film Festival debuting his dramatically leaner physique, very few people expected what came next. His performance in A24-backed Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine made the audience in Lido break into a 15-minute standing ovation, generating significant Oscar buzz for Johnson, best known for franchise fare like Jumanji and the Fast and Furious movies, which saw him mostly playing different version of the same character—the big guy with a bigger heart, the sensitive badass, with a humorous streak.
It seems The Smashing Machine, where he plays UFC Hall of Famer, Mark Kerr, who rose to prominence during the early, unregulated ‘no holds barred’ era of Ultimate Fighting Championship, contributing significantly to the evolution of MMA during its formative years, is a career pivot for the WWE legend-turned-action star towards becoming a dramatic actor. If 2013 was the year of McConaissance—a year that saw Matthew McConaughey shed his rom-com cute hero image and establish himself as serious and versatile actor with Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club, 2025 might just be the year of ‘Rockaissance’. The year when Hollywood’s favourite action star broke the status quo and became a bonafide Hollywood actor.
Becoming The Smashing Machine
Johnson gained 30 pounds to "live in Mark's skin”. He revealed this to E! News during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. “I had to gain 30 pounds, and that’s a lot to carry.” However, to play the former UFC fighter, the erstwhile WWE star needed a sprinter-like body that is leaner and more agile. Kerr’s was the more functional body of a real wrestler as opposed to the excessively bulked up performative physique of a WWE star. “That was the biggest challenge," Johnson said. “There's fighting in the ring, which I worked very hard in MMA training camp. I put on 30 pounds of muscle, but it's also a different kind of muscle when you have to play Mark Kerr. The kind of muscle I had to put on was a different quality of muscle. I know that might sound weird, but it's fast-twitch, because you have to be able to move,” he told MMA Junkie.
Apart from the physical transformation and the heavy prosthetics that have made him almost unrecognisable— Johnson portrays Kerr with a kind of nuance and vulnerability he has never showcased in his acting career. Johnson sheds every bit of his charismatic larger-than-life action hero image and completely transforms into the soft-spoken and troubled wrestler Kerr, nicknamed ‘The Smashing Machine’ for his powerful takedowns and brutal ground and pound techniques. The biopic focusses more on Kerr’s complex and troubled life outside of the ring, including his battle with substance abuse that started with his addiction to prescription painkillers. Johnson portrays Kerr’s emotional turmoil and his moments of pain and vulnerability as he fights his personal demons with a rare maturity, imbuing the character with authenticity and dramatic depth.
What makes Johnson portraying Kerr in his biopic all the more interesting is the fact that both were contemporaries and had wrestling roots—while Kerr’s first professional MMA fight was in January 1997, Johnson made his official WWF (now WWE) debut in 1996, both would go on to become legends in their chosen arenas. Both had even met early in their careers in the late 1990s, and Johnson has spoken about his deep admiration for the two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winning MMA fighter. While their careers peaked around the same time, Kerr, weighed down by his addiction to painkillers and opioids went on a downward spiral and retired in 2009. On the other hand, The Rock, having officially left the WWE a few years earlier to pursue a career in Hollywood, was already establishing himself as a leading man—within two years, he would be on the path of becoming one of Hollywood’s most bankable superstars with his turn as Luke Hobbs in Fast Five—the fifth instalment of the The Fast and the Furious franchise.
The Star Births An Actor
While Dwayne Johnson, one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars (Johnson was recorded as the highest-paid actor in the world in 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2024) was thus far considered as a one-trick pony, according to the 53-year-old, what kept him from experimenting beyond the blockbuster actioners and thwarted his desire to explore more vulnerable and dramatic characters was the box office success of those formulaic franchise movies. He says that he was “pigeon-holed” by Hollywood for years, despite having a “burning desire” to work in diverse movies. “When you’re in Hollywood, as we all know, it has become about the box office, and you chase the box office. And the box office in our business is very loud, it can be very [overwhelming]. It can push you into a corner and category—‘This is your lane, this is what you do, and this is what people want you to be and this is what Hollywood wants you to be’”, Johnson revealed in a recent interview with The Telegraph, though he also admitted to being scared “to go deep and intense and raw until now”.
However, in a previous interview given to Rolling Stone in 2018, he was categorical that he just wants his audience to have a good time and has no burning desire to explore dramatic roles. “No one’s going to see me play a borderline psychopath suffering from depression. I have friends I admire, Oscar winners, who approach our craft with the idea of ‘Sometimes it comes out a little darker, and nobody will see it, but it’s for me.’ Great. But I have other things I can do for me. I’m gonna’ take care of you, the audience. You pay your hard-earned money—I don’t need to bring my dark shit to you,” he had then said. Updating his statement in 2024, he told GQ: “I don’t know who the fuck that guy is. I feel like I’ve evolved and grown. What’s evolved and changed, and I mean this respectfully because I love people, is it’s got to be for me.” But this doesn’t mean an end of those tentpole movies he is known for. “Because the big movies are fun and there’s a place for them in our business for a lot of families and people around the world to enjoy them. But there’s also a place for me, in my career, where the material is deeper. It allows me to sink my teeth into something deeper, richer,” he said hinting at finding the right balance.
This pivot might have something to do with his recent box office. In 2015, the cast of Saturday Night Live called him the “franchise viagra” for his ability revitalise flagging franchises—it started with Fast Five that helped the Fast and Furious franchise to grow bigger both is scope and budget, then he led the revival of the Jumanji series with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. But it seems he was just beginning to run out of his winning streak—the poor performance of Black Adam, the first movie of the planned franchise that released in 2022 as part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), put the series on the backburner. Jungle Cruise, his previous film with his The Smashing Machine co-star Emily Blunt that released in 2021 was a box office disappointment. Then, another expensive project, Red One (2024) also flopped. Although Moana 2 (2024) was a massive hit, it was probably time for Johnson to have a fresh game plan. It was about time he reinvented himself.
In fact, his significant drastic weight loss that turned heads at TIFF, was not for The Smashing Machine but his upcoming movie, Lizard Music. Directed by The Smashing Machine director, the movie, based on Daniel Pinkwater’s cult novel, will see him play “a whimsical, eccentric 70-something year-old” named Chicken Man. It will be another opportunity for him to break his action-hero image.
A Penchant For Pivot
In fact, he has been a pro at reinventing his persona. Even before swapping his WWE career for Hollywood fame, before the trash-talking The Rock became the dapper Dwayne Johnson, we had Rocky Maivia—the clean-cut, good-natured ‘babyface’—who made his WWF debut in 1996. Promoted as the first third-generation wrestler, his stage name was a tribute to his wrestling lineage and combined the ring names of his father, Rocky Johnson, and his grandfather, ‘High Chief’ Peter Maivia. But it was the Attitude Era, and this wholesome persona failed to impress an audience who wanted something edgy and rebellious. They booed “Die, Rocky, die!”. And Rocky did die. And from his ashes, The Rock emerged—the trash-talking, charismatic, larger-than-life, baddie armed to the teeth with performative signature moves like ‘The Rock Bottom’, ‘Samoan Drop’ and ‘People's Elbow’ and of course, plenty of catchphrases. He indeed cooked. And the fans smelt blood. It was his first career pivot, and it established him as a complete package as a performer, and he went on to become one of the biggest superstars in professional wrestling history.
His decision to transition from that to a Hollywood superstar, retiring from full-time wrestling, was also a career pivot that coincided with the WWE not offering him a new contract after his previous one expired in 2004.
He made a return to WWE with an elevated celebrity status (he was already a Hollywood star) on Valentine's Day 2011 episode of Raw as a part-time performer with a storyline building his feud with John Cena for about two years.
In yet another attempt at a pivot, he made a second comeback in 2023 adopting the “Final Boss” heel character. While the SmackDown event was a huge commercial success, it coincided with the dismal box office failure of Black Adam. Many called it a 'self-serving' return further establishing his penchant for pivots facing a career slump.
League Of His Own
Although he is neither the first—before him was Hulk Hogan, ‘Rowdy’ Piper, Jesse Ventura—and nor the last WWE star to venture into Hollywood, nobody has tasted success like him. Apart from him, Dave Bautista and John Cena are also two contemporary actors who have made the switch from WWE. Bautista, having proved his acting chops in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune, Blade Runner 2049 and Glass Onion—The Hollywood Reporter aptly named Bautista the greatest wrestler-turned-actor, ahead of both Johnson and Cena— has mostly taken up challenging supporting roles instead of going for stereotypical leads like Johson and Cena. As for Cena, unlike Johnson, he ventured into Hollywood while maintaining a career in WWE (he has announced his retirement and his final WWE match is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 13, 2025). The 48 years old is still building his filmography but has proved to be more versatile than Johnson—he aces the comedic roles, and his 2025 release Heads of State became the fourth most-watched movie on Amazon's Prime Video ever. But when it comes to consistent box office success, he is not even close to Johnson. The 10-time world champion and a two-time Intercontinental Champion has kept his Midas touch alive after switching to Hollywood. Although he is often criticised for being that movie star who typically plays himself or a variation of his wrestling persona, the audience seem to be smitten with him ensuring his outing gets the cash registers ringing. But it seems with The Smashing Machine now garnering Oscar buzz ahead of the 2026 awards, Johnson has been catapulted to a league of his own.
His Best Role So Far: Meet Girl-Dad Johnson
Dwayne Jhonson might or might not clinch an Oscar nomination for his turn as Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, but my favourite Dwayne Jhonson, which wins my heart on a weekly basis, is that of him being the cute, devoted, and VERY patient, girl-dad. Johnson shares daughter Simone with ex-wife Dany Garcia and daughters Jasmine and Tiana with wife Lauren Hashian.
While he was more of an absentee dad while his oldest daughter Simone Alexandra Johnson—who he had when he was 29 with with his ex-wife, Dany Garcia--was growing up, owing to his professional commitments, the two have now become close allies thanks to their shared love for wrestling. Simone, who has taken the ring name Ava Raine, has followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather into professional wrestling and signed with the WWE. And these days she finds a mentor, guide, and cheerleader in daddy dearest.
But for Jasmine, 9, and Tiana, 6, his two feisty daughters with Lauren Hashian, he is making sure that every moment counts. He is a hands-on dad to his ‘lil’ queens’. In a 2019 interview with Fatherly, Johnson reflected on how over the years he has evolved as a dad. “After my divorce, I’ve learned so much. It allowed me to take those experiences with Simone and apply them to her little sisters. Now, years later, I get to have this wonderful relationship with Simone, who is 17, and this beautiful, powerful relationship with my younger daughters, who are 3 years old and 15 months. Through life and experience, I’m a different kind of dad.” That very year on Good Morning America, Johnson put it out simply: “As men, you know, you’re like, ‘Oh yeah I’m going to raise my son’,” he says. “But having all daughters, it’s the greatest blessing I’ve ever had.”
The Lockdown was the turning point. Spending time with them with no work commitments vying for his time, he really bonded with his daughters. "It was a shakeup for us," the actor admitted. Calling Jasmine and Tia tornadoes who are very passionate about how they feel, the actor had revealed: "Lauren and I like raising them in an environment and a culture where there are no limits to life. You can do anything you want, and you can achieve anything you want. However, I need you to be flexible with how we get there.”
As per a 2023 PEOPLE interview, being a daddy is now his number one priority. It helps that he is at that stage in his career where he can call the shots and ensure he spends quality time with his girls. "I've reached a point in my life where I can create my own schedule, which has really been nice, because it wasn't always that way, and I'm really lucky. It allows me to get closer to the girls."
He is learning from his daughter, “[My daughters] teach me so much, and continue to check me. They’re the equalizer”, and while at it, he has also discovered his superpower. "My superpower as a dad is the ability to not figure out why I keep falling for the 'Daddy close your eyes' trick and I get peanut butter in the face, my face drawn on, kicked in the nuts,” he revealed in that interview.
As Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson finds fresh new superpowers, here is hoping that armed with the Oscar buzz he can get back his box office glory with The Smashing Machine. The A24 movie is releasing in Indian on October 2, 2025, exclusively in PVR INOX cinemas.
