Dwayne Johnson admits he was “scared” of serious acting

Posted On August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

Dwayne Johnson has admitted in a recent interview that he was “scared” prior to filming his most recent film, The Smashing Machine.

The film is set to be released on October 3rd. It tells the story of Mark Kerr, the former MMA and UFC fighter.

The story covers Kerr’s time fighting in the UFC, as well as his struggling relationship with his then-wife Dawn Staples, and the strain that his competitive lifestyle put on their marriage. Staples will be played by Emily Blunt.

Former wrestler turned Hollywood megastar, Dwayne Johnson, is renowned for performing in high budget action movies. The Smashing Machine posed a new challenge for Johnson as it saw him step into a more serious role for the first time in his career.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson admitted that prior to filming, he felt “scared” stepping into a more serious role. He also doubted whether or not he was the right person for the job.

“It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?’” he said. “I realized that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff.”

Emily Blunt confirmed she knew Johnson was the right person for the role as they worked together on the 2021 film Jungle Cruise and she trusted him to take on this bigger responsibility.

“Because you have trust with someone, it just allows the scenes to take flight, and there’s a sort of secret language,” said Blunt, “I definitely felt that with Dwayne because it was just so easy, even though the scenes [in The Smashing Machine] were incredibly hardcore and intense and very difficult to get over some of them.”

The Smashing Machine is set for release on October 3rd. You can watch the trailer for the movie below.

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