THE SMASHING MACHINE Interview | Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt and Benny Safdie Talk Mark Kerr Biopic

I think there was more tequila on Smashing Machine. Wait, what type of tequila? The free ----. Mr. Johnson, I got you, baby. You know, I got you. Love you, brother. Guys, good to see you guys. Thank you for taking the time. I'm so honored to be here. Thank you for the time. Mr. Johnson, I'm going to start with you. I feel like when you are making a truly real and raw biopic about someone, that means that for better or for worse, everyone has to be honest. Marker has to be honest with you about the ups and more importantly, the downs of his life if this is going to work. And it means as the man portraying him, you're going to have to ask him some awkward and potentially uncomfortable questions to truly understand who he is and what he went through. So I'm curious over your time getting to know him, what was the most uncomfortable question you knew you were going to have to ask him if you were going to be able to pull this off as an actor? To be honest with you, I felt like I was close enough to Mark to know that. And then in knowing Mark, there's actually, Jake, not a question that's going to make him uncomfortable. Yeah, yeah. He's reached this point in his life. Nothing's intrusive. And it's a beautiful place to be. By the way, that's how brave he is and how open, book and vulnerable he is and accountable he is. So we all got to know Mark very well. And I just, one of the things I, the one thing I felt he might have, it would mean a lot to his heart to answer is what happened at the end, why he couldn't fight back. Yeah. In that moment where you fight for and you prepare for this moment in life where you, where this is it, your opportunity to win it all. And you, and you don't, and you can't fight back. There's that. And then also I want to know what was going through your mind as you were probably fighting the greatest fight you've ever had with your girlfriend at home, who eventually became his wife. The way that you guys portray the word fight differently throughout this movie, I thought was unbelievable. Miss Blunt, I'm always curious how much of an actor's experience on set impacts what their life is like offset. Obviously not the first time you and Dwayne work together, but that was a very different kind of movie. So I'm sort of curious what's different and how you went home every day after you would hear cut on Jungle Cruise versus how you went home every day after you heard cut on Smashing Machine. I think there was more tequila on Smashing Machine. Wait, what type of tequila? It is tequila, the free ----. Mr. Johnson, I got you, baby. You know, I got you. I think that there was, there's an emotional letdown after those types of scenes, you know, and also there's a prep for this, for those types of scenes. You know, you can't just wing it. You've got to get in a certain force field to access that stuff. And it's, we are both so grateful to Benny and the environment he created. He's an actor and his empathy for what you need on those days. And so I think it was both. It was the morning. It was the drive to work. It was the drive back from work. And we were all a bit shell-shocked sometimes, you know, and on Jungle Cruise, I wouldn't say I was shell-shocked. No, no, no, completely different vibe. Completely different. Yeah, I'm not expecting to see this streaming on Disney Plus any time soon. Never know. Yeah, that's true. That's true. Mr. Safdie, I feel like between Mr. Johnson in this film and Adam Sandler in Uncut and Gems, I feel like you are constantly proving that you are seeing a potential, you are seeing a side of actors that up until you've worked with them haven't truly been explored. You have showed audiences that some of the most famous people on this planet possess a side of themselves that we've never seen before. Do you remember the first time on set with Dwayne that he gave you something in his performance that made you pause and go, ----, no one has ever seen him do that before? Well, there were so many of those moments, but it's interesting because the process of just kind of preparing for the movie, writing the movie, I just kind of opened up and was like, let's just go. Let's just talk about everything. So as we were moving through, we were just constantly talking about the emotions of the character, who he was, where he was, so that when we would do scenes, the smallest things would come out. And I guess honestly, one of the most remarkable things was just also the fact that Dwayne would be like, oh, so you're just on my back. And I said, yes. He goes, you're not gonna get my face. I said, no, I'm gonna stay on your back. And it's when he gets in the elevator. And then it's the confusion in his eyes as he's trying to understand what went on. And then he turns around and you feel everything that's happening on his face through his back. So vulnerable. And that was... Vulnerability emanating off him. I had never seen or felt that before ever because I'm like, how is it possible that could come out of pores? You know, it was amazing. Such an amazing shot because you feel yourself craning around to see his face. And it was important that it was a real elevator that went from bottom floor to the top floor and it was all in one take. And the agony of it. Yeah, just because there's like, that's something that I remember reading about like Floyd Patterson when he lost to Sonny Liston. He said, I really wish there was a trap door in the middle of the ring that took me straight from the ring to my locker room because the shame I felt after having lost, walking from the ring back was so great that he just wished it never happened. I was like, well, I have to show that walk, you know? The moment the doctor asked, do you know what happened? And he answers, I lost. Like that was... They're screaming. I had one more question I wanted to ask. They're screaming me. The time is up. Guys, Mr. Safdie, this is truly an honor. I absolutely worship this movie. And Mr. Johnson, Ms. Blunt, really quick, I just want to say, I end all my interviews with you guys the same way, but I just want to say thank you. Like I have this life. I get to do this job. Everything I have in my life, I had because people like you said yes to an 18-year-old kid who should not have been doing this job when he was doing it. And it's only because someone like you took a chance on me and I'm here 20 years later. And I love you guys so much. And I'm so appreciative of you. It's such a pleasure. Thank you. You're the best, Jake. And go to Corey's Bagels there in Chicago. Tell him I sent you. I got you. I got you guys. All right. I love you guys. Love you, brother. See ya. He's the best. I love you.