Dwayne Johnson recently told Vanity Fair that he spent “three to four hours” in the makeup chair each morning during the filming of “ The Smashing Machine ,” Benny Safdie’s sports drama that casts Johnson as two-time UFC heavyweight champion Mike Kerr. It’s a rare dramatic pivot for Johnson, who admitted he felt an unprecedented level of nerves when going into production.
“It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?’” Johnson said. “I realized that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff… I was so hungry for an opportunity to do something raw and gritty and rip myself open. And all of a sudden, ‘Smashing Machin