Venice Film Festival interview The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson Emily Blunt and Benny Safdie

The Smashing Machine, in competition at Venice 82, is written, directed, co-produced, and edited by Benny Safdie. Dwayne Johnson stars as former MMA champion fighter Mark Kerr, alongside Emily Blunt who plays Kerr's then-wife, Dawn Staples.

Present at the press conference were the director, Johnson, and Blunt, who discussed the film and answered questions from the press. Mark Kerr himself was also present, "an extraordinary man who changed our lives," Johnson emphasized. The film is a love story, Johnson explains, describing the protagonist as a character full of contradictions, endowed with radical empathy. Initially, he fights for survival, for money. Then he finds himself fighting for love against addiction. Including addiction to success: "He loses everything. But it's okay. Life goes on." What remains is the relief that all that pressure that characterized much of his life is over, adds Safdie.

Johnson speaks about the challenge of portraying the wrestling champion. An opportunity he had been seeking for some time. Hollywood and the box office follow tyrannical logic and, at a certain point, the former wrestler questioned the possibility of playing a different role, channeling lived experience and vulnerability. Encouragement came from Emily Blunt, a close friend, with whom he worked on the set of Jungle Cruise.

"In the '90s, we have this representation of the macho and invincible man amplified by the arena, but the film focuses on these men broken by having to maintain this self-image," adds Emily Blunt, who plays Kerr's partner at the time: "This female figure is fundamental in the film. The dynamics in a relationship can continuously change, and Benny's visceral direction captures this emotional aspect well." Indeed, The Smashing Machine also represents the sense of sacrifice borne on the shoulders of loved ones.

Safdie speaks of the desire to explore the '90s, an experimental period regarding the world of mixed martial arts, banned in certain states in the USA, yet very popular in Japan and Brazil. Of particular importance is the weight of the soundtrack, which becomes part of the film's writing process: the words of a particular piece of music intercept the feelings portrayed on screen with a powerful effect, the director explained.