Dwayne Johnson admitted that portraying Mark Kerr in his upcoming movie, The Smashing Machine, 'has changed his life' amid growing Oscars buzz.
The biopic, set for theatrical release on October 3, chronicles the life of former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, 56, played by Dwayne, 53.
Emily Blunt, 42, stars opposite Dwayne as Kerr's then-wife, Dawn Staples, a recovering alcoholic from Arizona who married Kerr in Las Vegas.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show in Friday's episode, Dwayne described the part as 'the role of a lifetime' and revealed he had to 'rip himself open' to truly connect with the character.
He told host Graham: 'He had an unbelievable life, and to play him is the role of a lifetime.'
He continued: 'I didn't know the role was for me, or whether I could do it, but I had the opportunity and this little voice in me telling me to do it. For once, I wasn't chasing the box office, and it has changed my life.'
Dwayne Johnson admitted that portraying Mark Kerr in his upcoming movie, The Smashing Machine, 'has changed his life', (pictured on The Graham Norton Show on Friday)
The biopic, set for theatrical release on October 3, chronicles the life of former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, 56, played by Dwayne, 53 (Mark pictured right)
His co-star Emily also joined him on the iconic red sofa for the evening, where she talked about working with Dwayne and playing the role of Dawn, Kerr's wife.
She said: 'She was heartbreaking and fierce. They had a complicated relationship with brokenness and vulnerability, and I hope the movie is healing for them.
'Dwayne is the antithesis of the Rock persona everyone imagines - he is quiet, shy, gentle, and curious; he has a reservoir of untapped stuff - if you want to be fed by an experience, this role is like the Sunday roast of a performance.'
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with The Guardian, the actor said he wanted to truly challenge himself in the role, adding: 'I wanted to not only challenge myself but to listen to my gut.'
He continued: 'To really rip myself open. And, quite honestly, I was scared. I'm not a big therapy guy. I've had some great conversations with therapists, but it's not the thing I run to. I bottle shit up inside me like a lot of guys which I recognise is not the healthiest thing to do.'
'Then I said: "Wait, I can still do the thing I love which is acting. But what if there's something deeper and more meaningful in it for me?".'
It comes after Dwayne burst into tears when his movie The Smashing Machine received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month.
During the ovation - one of the longest at Venice this year - the movie's director Benny Safdie embraced the leading actors and also burst into tears of joy at the reception.
The new role marks a move away from Dwayne's typical action films.
Dwayne - crowned Favourite Male Buttkicker at the 2013 Kids Choice Awards - has now expressed a desire to 'be taken seriously' after being 'pigeonholed' with his roles.
He began his acting career on television while wrestling, and during the Venice screening, one fan noted his career roots as he shouted: 'Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?!' - prompting laughter from the WWE star.
The Rock has appeared in hit big-budget movies such as Jumanji, Moana and The Fast and The Furious, but is now aiming for something bigger than the box office - and hopes to get an Oscar with The Smashing Machine.
An online campaign has been kick-started to see this dream come to fruition, with fans tweeting: 'The upcoming Rock campaign is gonna' give us so much meme material and clips. Even if he misses at Oscar I can see him getting Globes/CCA/SAG, which means he could be around for a while. Hopefully this means he'll continue to do more serious roles.'
'We're living in a time where Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could receive an Oscar nomination this winter. Anything is possible; don't stop chasing that dream kids.'
'''And the Oscar for best actor and performancein a film goes to.. Dwayne The Rock Johnson'''
The Smashing Machine, by super-indie A24, tells the story of the MMA star Mark and his struggles with substance abuse and domestic dramas, as well as his sporting journey at a point when the wrestling phenomenon had yet to become a big cultural noise.
Speaking on the show, Dwayne described the part as 'the role of a lifetime' and revealed he had to 'rip himself open' to truly connect with the character (L-R Dwayne, Emily, Matthew McConaughey, James Norton and Raye with host Graham Norton (back)
He told host Graham: 'He had an unbelievable life, and to play him is the role of a lifetime. For once, I wasn't chasing the box office, and it has changed my life'
His co-star Emily also joined him on the iconic red sofa for the evening, where she talked about working with Dwayne and playing the role of Dawn, Kerr's wife
She said: 'Dwayne is the antithesis of the Rock persona everyone imagines - he is quiet, shy, gentle, and curious; he has a reservoir of untapped stuff - if you want to be fed by an experience, this role is like the Sunday roast of a performance'
Speaking in Venice, Dwayne shared: 'When you're in Hollywood -- as we all know, it can become about box office.'
'And you chase the box office, and the box office can be very loud and it can become very resounding and it can push you into a category and into a corner...
Dwayne continued: 'This is your lane and this is what you do and this is what Hollywood wants you to do.
'I understood that, and I did those movies, and it was fun. And some of them did really well. It's not about proving something to Hollywood as much as it is proving something to me.
'A few years ago I started to ask myself, am I living my dream or am I living other people's dreams.'
'You come to that recognition and I think you can either fall in line - Well, it's status quo; things are good; I don't want to rock the boat..
'Or go,I want to live my dreams nowand do what I wanna doand tap intothestuffthatIwanttotapintoandhaveaplacefinallytoputallthisstuffthatI'veexperiencedinthepastthatI'veshiedawayfrom.'
'I've beenscaredtogodeepandintensandrawuntilnowuntilIhadthisopportunity.'
It comes after Dwayne burst into tears as his movie The Smashing Machine received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month
Dwayne Johnson makes a rare red carpet appearance with his daughter Ava Raine as they join his co-star Emily Blunt at The Smashing Machine screening in London
The son of a professional wrestler, Dwayne said that he was not inspired by his own father in his new film.
'My dad was homeless at 13, so his capability for love was very limited. That's the man that raised me - tough love,' he said.
The real Mark Kerr was in the audience at the press conference, and Dwayne asked him to stand up and take the applause of the audience.
Dwayne said: 'Mark's life has changed our lives and certainly changed my life as well. As we found with the film, it's not about the wins or the losses; it's also a film about what happens when winning becomes the enemy.'
Mark was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion; World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner; Pride FC heavyweight champion; 1992 NCAA national wrestling champion; 1994 National Freestyle Champion; 4x ADCC World Submission Champion.
In 2003 he was subject of an HBO documentary titled The Smashing Machine which detailed his MMA career fighting in Vale Tudo , UFC , Pride .
In order to portray Mark in the film , Dwayne shed a whopping 60lbs .
This has led to wide speculation among fans as to whether he had jumped on the celebrity trend of using fat jabs , such as Ozempic and Mounjaro .
Dwayne previously admitted that when he made his break into Hollywood in the mid-2000s , he was told to lose weight in order to be taken seriously as an actor , but in recent years , he has looked more ripped than ever .
'This transformation was something I was really hungry to do,' Dwayne told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday during the Venice Film Festival.
'I had been very fortunate to have the career that I've had over the years and to make the films that I've made , but there was just a voice inside of me , a little voice that said , "Well , what if I could do more -- I want to do more and what does that look like?"'