“I was ready to chase the challenge and not chase the box office,” the wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson said in reference to his latest film — Benny Safdie ’s The Smashing Machine , an A24 production in which Johnson portrays Mark Kerr , an early MMA fighter whose life took a dark turn — during a recent recording of The Hollywood Reporter ’s Awards Chatter podcast in front of 500 film students at Chapman University in Orange County.

From most people, such a statement would not seem particularly significant — but Johnson is not most people. He is the most bankable movie star of his generation.

“I was ready to chase the challenge and not chase the box office,” the wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson said in reference to his latest film — Benny Safdie ’s The Sma

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