Ever since his film The Smashing Machine debuted at the Venice International Film Festival, people have been in awe of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s portrayal of real life UFC fighter Matt Kerr. In a recent interview, the wrestler-turned actor explained how he dealt with some of the heavier than usual scenes in the film, and how the initial negativity in his life helped him.
While talking to CBS’s Sunday Morning show, The Rock talked about the tough childhood he had, and how that always kept him in his comfort zone once he became successful. “I had always been nervous about leaving my comfort zone. The reason why I was afraid to let that go, was because I grew up in trailer parks and apartments across the country. When you come from that and you have been evicted and you have lived from paycheck to paycheck, and then you come to Hollywood to make some films and make money, people get happy. That is comfort, and the brain keeps telling you, ‘Don’t rock the boat. Keep doing the same thing. Everyone is happy including your family. You are paying the bills and you don’t have to go back to having 7 bucks,’” said Dwayne.
He continued, “I don’t know what its like to experience some of things that Mark did, but I do know feeling of wanting to be anywhere but where you are in some moments. I became the 15 year old kid again who is coming home with his mom and sees a eviction notice on his home. My mom was crying and the notice says, ‘You have 5 days to evict or the police will remove you.‘ She was crying and I was trying to hold it together. Then eventually going to Nashville to live with my father, but he didn’t pick me up, it was some stranger at the airport. I was like, ‘Where am I going? Where am I going to live?’”
Dwayne Johnson admitted that one has to be careful when tapping into memories and said, “I had to tell myself constantly that ‘You’re good now. Your family is happy, the bills are paid. Matt is alive and an inspiration to so many people.’ Because for me, if I didn’t do that I thought I’d get stuck there, in those memories. I was worried because I didn’t know whether I had the tools to get out of it.” The actor also revealed that he had some deep and insightful conversations with The Smashing Machine co-star Emily Blunt, who told him to “stop being afraid” and “go for it” while they were filming.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, The Rock is now worth over $800 million (Rs 7100 crores) and has fingers in cookies jars such as the Fast and Furious franchise, The Jumanji Franchise, and the WWE.
Directed by Ben Safdie, the cast of The Smashing Machine also includes Dwayne, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk.
