Dwayne Johnson is no stranger to transforming his physique for the big screen, but even ‘The Rock’ had to push the limits for his latest role.
In preparation for The Smashing Machine, Johnson revealed that Director Benny Safdie told him that he’d have to pack on even more size to embody legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr.
“Benny came to me and we had a good laugh about it and he said ‘I don't know how to say this, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been asked this, but you’re going to have to get bigger,” he told talkSPORT in a recent interview. “I kind of laughed, but I knew he was right."
Gaining or losing a few pounds is pretty standard in the world of acting and something Johnson has mastered for many other roles. For Black Adam, he packed on a substantial amount of movie star muscle, consuming between 4,000-6,000 calories a day.
But Johnson described getting bigger for The Smashing Machine as “bananas” as he was told he’d need to gain 30lbs (that’s almost 14kg!).
“The challenge of putting on 30lbs to play Mark Kerr is that Mark Kerr’s muscle is a different kind of fast-twitch fibre muscle. Athletes out there and coaches know what I’m talking about, with wrestlers it’s that fast-twitch movement.
“I had to put on the weight and at the same time make sure that I still stayed agile and I had to move in the ring and in the cage – it was hard man.”
It’s not just a physique transformation Johnson underwent, but an emotional one, as he says it deepened his empathy.
On an Instagram post he wrote: “Taught me a deeper level of compassion because at the end of the day you never know what kind of struggles and pain people are going through.
"And truth is, everyone’s going through something.”
The Smashing Machine is out in cinemas on Friday 3 October.
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