Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson swaps WWE for MMA in his latest movie, though he did consider this change at one stage in his career.
MMA fans were shocked to see Johnson transform into former UFC fighter Mark Kerr in the first look at ‘The Smashing Machine’.
The biopic from writer and director Benny Safdie tells the story of one of the top fighters at a point where the sport was nowhere near what it is today.
Johnson’s performance has left legends stunned by his portrayal of Kerr, with high-scoring reviews ahead of the film’s global release.
‘The Rock’ may be acting as a mixed martial artist in the movie, but there was a point in time where he considered becoming a full-time fighter.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson said that UFC legend and fellow WWE star Ken Shamrock talked him out of fighting
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson had his reservations about taking on the role of former fighter Mark Kerr before beginning the project.
This challenge ended up being what motivated him to pursue it, with Johnson doing whatever he could to really capture the UFC Hall of Famer’s experiences.
There was a decision that he made in his life that could have made him one of the characters in the movie rather than an actor due to his interest in fighting in Pride before his WWE career really took off.
He said on the Joe Rogan Experience last year that the life that he thought the fighters were living was appealing to him as an up and coming professional wrestler.
“I had this thought of Pride because it felt like, ‘Oh, those guys, they’re making money. They’re putting on big shows. There’s 20-30,000 people in these shows, this looks incredible’. Not only that but then I think when you’re talking to guys, and they’re in it, and they’re saying, ‘Yeah, you could do it.'”
‘The Rock’ went on to say that it was the regular conversations that he had with UFC legend and former WWE star Ken Shamrock that talked him out of this idea.
“Shamrock was very smart by the way which I really appreciate about him. At that time, we were wrestling each other every night so I got a chance to get to know him very well and work out with him. He was just like, ‘You might just want to stick with this first. There’s a real shot here, like you got something here. Stick with this.'”
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Mark Kerr made it clear to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson that he didn’t need to do ‘The Smashing Machine’
In the same conversation, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson referenced Mark Kerr as one of the other fighters that he had spoken to about competing in MMA.
This then led to them, as Kerr revealed on the Joe Rogan Experience, starting to speak about doing ‘The Smashing Machine’ movie all the way back in 2019.
The former UFC fighter said that he had made it clear to Johnson that he didn’t need to do this project and take on all of this responsibility.
“He’s at a place in his life where he can just keep doing blockbusters and be perfectly fine with it,” Kerr told Rogan. “I mean he says it himself, there’s always a place for that. There’s always going to be a place for blockbuster movies and that. But he needed to do something different.”
Fortunately for the fans, Johnson didn’t listen to the fighter that he has now brought to the big screen.