Dwayne Johnson’s profession greatest efficiency within the upcoming movie The Smashing Machine has the ex-pro wrestler incomes severe Oscar buzz forward of the 2026 awards.
The 53-year-old actor, whose profession has principally been geared in the direction of larger-than-life motion roles and a few household pleasant comedies, underwent a dramatic transformation each bodily and mentally to play UFC Corridor of Famer Mark Kerr within the biopic about his life. The Smashing Machine, which opens nationwide on Oct. 3, has already racked up some award wins with Benny Safdie taking residence the Silver Lion for Greatest Director on the Venice Movie Pageant the place the film premiered.
Whereas he’s by no means been thought of a heavyweight on the subject of his dramatic appearing, Johnson has obtained overwhelmingly constructive reactions for enjoying Kerr — a hulking savage within the ring however a delicate large exterior — whereas coping with a time period throughout his profession when he was struggling badly with drug dependancy.
“[Johnson] stands on the precipice of a career-defining second, and one he has searched for fairly a while,” Selection’s Clayton Davis wrote about his efficiency within the movie.
“Comparisons to Mickey Rourke’s Oscar-nominated flip in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (2008) are inevitable and apt. Each movies middle on fighters grappling with bodily deterioration and private demons. The place Rourke drew from his boxing background, Johnson faucets into one thing rawer and psychologically advanced. Working with two-time Oscar winner Kazu Hiro (“Bombshell” and “Darkest Hour”), Johnson undergoes a bodily transformation that erases any considered a WWE star in costume. In truth, he may even place himself as this yr’s Brendan Fraser, whose makeup-assisted flip in The Whale earned each appearing and technical Oscars, likewise for an actor who was considered an unlikely awards contender.”
Johnson lengthy thought of The Smashing Machine as his ardour mission after he noticed the 2002 documentary of the identical identify and he discovered extra in regards to the former wrestler turned fighter. It took him a few years to lastly get the mission off the bottom however now The Smashing Machine is about to debut with A24 — an unbiased studio with an enormous quantity of Academy Award wins — backing the movie.
Whereas it’s inconceivable to cover Johnson in any movie — being a 6-foot-5 muscle sure large will do this for you — he’s successfully disguised behind the prosthetics that flip him into Kerr for the film.
It doesn’t damage that Johnson spends an enormous a part of the movie appearing reverse Emily Blunt, who earned an Oscar nomination for her efficiency in Oppenheimer.
The end result has been a profession defining function for Johnson, who was dropped at tears after a 15-minute standing ovation following the movie’s debut in Venice.
“Johnson has hardly ever performed a loser, however he’s at all times been likable, displaying a large grin to match his huge pecs in motion autos that by no means allowed him to showcase a lot vary,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Jordan Mintzer wrote in regards to the film. “He manages to go deep right here with out overdoing it, killing the viewers with kindness as a benign warrior who suffers from one scene to the subsequent, triumphing briefly within the ring earlier than succumbing to dependancy and/or romantic grief.
“Like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler — a movie from which Safdie appears to take a number of cues — the actor delivers an intoxicating mixture of blood, sweat, tears, protein and whole helplessness.”
Gold Derby, a web site that gives odds for all main leisure awards, at present has Johnson as one of many high 5 performers almost definitely to earn a Greatest Actor nomination on the 2026 Academy Awards alongside names like Timothee Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White, Michael B. Jordan and previous winner Brendan Fraser.
“Johnson is a perfect match for Safdie and the fabric, bridging with out sensation or cloying have an effect on the disconnect between who Mark is within the octagon (intimidating, undefeated, all primal machismo power) and who he’s exterior the cage (wounded, insecure, cauliflower-eared),” IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio mentioned in regards to the movie. “All of that’s to say whereas Smashing Machine doesn’t play like straightforward awards catnip, Johnson earns a large place amongst this yr’s prize-seekers.”
Academy Award nominations gained’t be introduced till early 2026 however all indicators are pointing in the direction of Johnson getting severe consideration together with Safdie as Greatest Director in addition to the potential for Greatest Screenplay, Kazu Hiro getting consideration for make-up and Blunt’s consideration for Greatest Supporting Actress.
Extra reactions to Johnson’s efficiency begin pouring in after the Oct. 3 launch of The Smashing Machine but it surely seems the previous WWE celebrity is likely to be poised for an opportunity so as to add an Oscar to his resume come 2026.
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