The WWE legend recently announced that he will portray an MMA fighter in his latest movie, which will co-star Emily Blunt and be directed by Benny Safdie.
The Rock has been training hard to be prepared for his latest movie
Johnson has been documenting his time in the gym training to play former two-time UFC champion Mark Kerr, who earned ‘The Smashing Machine’ nickname due to his ferocious fighting style.
Kerr famously scored four first-round stoppage wins – with his longest fight lasting just 133 seconds – at UFC 14 and UFC 15 in 1997.
The 55-year-old struggled with an addiction to painkillers and has openly talked about how it impacted his career since retiring from MMA.
Kerr was the subject of a 2002 HBO documentary called The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.
The Rock’s film, which recently started production, will focus on his struggle with addiction, winning, love and friendship in the year 2000.
On Tuesday, the Hollywood superstar shared a picture that shows him looking almost unrecognisable after transforming into Kerr for a fight scene.
It shows The Rock sitting in a ring during a fight. Two men, who are presumably coaches, are talking to him, while Blunt’s character tries to get his attention from the crowd.
He captioned the post: “First look at Benny Safdie’s THE SMASHING MACHINE starring The Rock and Emily Blunt. #day1 #startofproduction #thesmashingmachine.”
Kerr won back-to-back UFC tournaments and to earn his famous nickname
The Rock looks just like him on The Smashing Machine set