Dwayne Johnson is a good actor. It’s time to prove that again in The Smashing Machine

By Dan Girolamo Published September 29, 2025

Dwayne Johnson has all of the traits of a Hollywood star. Physically, Johnson is an absolute specimen — big, tall, and handsome. With a million-dollar smile, Johnson exudes charisma everywhere he goes, from professional wrestling and family movies to action epics and superhero adventures.

Somewhere along the way, Johnson lost himself as an actor. Johnson’s talent never disappeared, but his cinematic taste suffered. Box office potential outweighed the quality of the project. That mindset might work for a Fast & Furious entry, but not for Red One. Johnson needs to strip things down and prove to audiences he can act. That’s where the Smashing Machine comes in. Before that, it’s important to look back at how Johnson got to this crossroads in his career.

“Do you know wrestling is fake?” This article isn’t a defense of professional wrestling. However, it is important to clarify that wrestling is scripted, not fake. Think of wrestling as an action movie — memorable one-liners, death-defying stunts, and non-stop entertainment. Why does this matter? Before Hollywood came calling, Johnson became the most electrifying man in sports entertainment as “the Rock.” 

In WWE, the Rock could do it all. On the mic, Rock was untouchable thanks to his stellar comedic timing and innate charisma. In the ring, he combined brute force — a former football player at Miami — with sheer athleticism, resulting in multiple championship reigns. After eight years as a full-time wrestler, the Rock left WWE to pursue a career in Hollywood.

Remember: WWE is like an action movie. Therefore, Johnson immediately entered the action genre in 2001 with The Mummy Returns, which then led to his first leading role, The Scorpion King. In 2003, Johnson’s actng career changed with The Rundown, an action comedy in the vein of Midnight Run. The Rundown — which combines physical, slapstick humor with witty insults — was tailor-made for Johnson. He’s essentially playing a WWE character in a movie.

After The Rundown, Johnson strangely became a leading man in family movies, including The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain, and Tooth Fairy. I’m sure starring alongside children isn’t what Johnson expected, but it did carve out a niche for him in Hollywood. 

I don’t know Johnson personally, but I would imagine dressing up as the tooth fairy wasn’t on his vision board. Luckily for Johnson, 2011 changed his life when Vin Diesel invited him into the family in Fast Five.

After four movies, the Fast & Furious franchise said goodbye to street racing and petty crime in favor of a globetrotting action adventure. On the run from the law, Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his crew head to Brazil to steal $100 million from a local crime lord. When the DEA can’t catch Toretto, the U.S. government sends in DSS Agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) to clean up the mess.

Toretto is Superman in the franchise. This is a man who will go on to jump a car between two skyscrapers. You never felt like Toretto would die or lose a fight. Johnson’s arrival changed that notion. For the first time, Diesel had a worthy adversary in Johnson, one who could win physically and mentally. Johnson’s muscles were big, his smile was bigger, and his presence reignited a franchise in desperate need of a reboot. 

For about the next decade, Johnson would morph into one of the industry’s most bankable stars. Johnson would continue playing Hobbs in several Fast & Furious entries, including a spinoff. With movies like Skyscraper, Baywatch, and Rampage, Johnson clearly wanted to be a combination of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He smartly started two more franchises with Moana and Jumanji. Even when COVID-19 hit, Johnson was as A-list as you can get. Naturally, the next move would be to join Marvel or DC. Unfortunately for Johnson, he bit off a little more than he could chew.

I’ve tried to conjure up a defense for Black Adam. I could say that DC felt like a rudderless ship post-COVID. Zack Snyder’s DCEU, although profitable to start, never received the same critical acclaim as the MCU. After the failure of Justice League, DC needed new, fresh characters, so introducing an antihero like Black Adam made sense on paper.

In theory, Johnson made the right decision to make Black Adam. However, the big mistake came from Warner Bros., which gave him the keys to DC. There is a reason why Kevin Feige, not Robert Downey Jr., controls the MCU. Stars want their movie to do well. Therefore, they make short-term decisions that will benefit their project. You need a person like Feige to think about the long-term ramifications for an entire interconnected universe.

Johnson should not have been the person to change the hierarchy of the DC Universe. The former wrestler elected to transform a supervillain into an antihero that could one day sit atop the throne of DC. That’s a tough sell to casual fans, especially when they’re used to Batman or Superman leading the way.

Black Adam is a forgettable movie. When the ensemble behind Johnson is more entertaining than the star himself, you have a problem. Black Adam grossed $393 million worldwide on a rumored budget between $190 million and $260 million. By all accounts, Black Adam lost money, but Johnson took to social media to defend the film’s box office numbers. Johnson’s worst move was bringing back Cavill to play Superman, only for James Gunn and Peter Safran to ax that idea two months later.

Black Adam ended Johnson’s time in DC, but Red One broke his spirit. The Christmas action comedy was a CGI mess that cared more about promoting Prime Video than entertaining the masses. Johnson clearly needed a change of scenery. Enter A24.

It would be foolish to say that Johnson’s career has been a failure. With multiple franchises to his name and billions grossed worldwide, the Rock is an international superstar. Somewhere along the way, Johnson lost the plot — box office became more important than the work. 

Johnson begins his redemption arc as an actor in The Smashing Machine. Directed by Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine is based on the life of Mark Kerr (Johnson), a pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts in the late ‘90s. While Kerr does have some triumphs in the octagon, his struggles with addiction threaten to ruin his life.

This is the type of role fans like myself have been clamoring for Johnson to play. It’s a physical transformation that requires the ultimate buy-in mentally. In a recent interview with Variety, Johnson stated that he would have to delve into “dark places” once he transitioned into dramatic work.

The Smashing Machine premiered at the Venice Film Festival, with Johnson garnering strong reviews for his portrayal of Kerr. A24, the studio behind the film, will undoubtedly run a Best Actor campaign for Johnson. Even if he doesn’t get nominated, the fact that Johnson’s name is being mentioned with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, and Jeremy Allen White is a step in the right direction.

Regardless of what happens during awards season, the narrative is shifting, and Johnson’s mindset is changing. He wants more challenging roles like The Smashing Machine, where monetary performance doesn’t matter. “This is the first time in my career that I’ve not thought about box office once,” Johnson told The Guardian.

Johnson is ready to remind the world of his talent. Now, it’s up to him not to let people forget about it.

The Smashing Machine opens in theaters on October 3, 2025.