Entertainment
Dwayne Johnson on tackling a dramatic role in “The Smashing Machine”
This picturesque farm in rural Virginia is Dwayne Johnson’s very private sanctuary, with a well-stocked pond that he usually fishes alone. “Just me,” he said, “and I’ll bring the girls here, and it’s magical. Just the way the property is set up, I never have to see anybody. And I know it sounds crazy, and maybe kind of weird, but that’s fun for me.”
I asked, “What does that do for you?”
“Peace,” he replied.
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Peace has been hard to come by lately. Last month, Johnson made his first trip to the Venice Film Festival, for what is probably the most ambitious film of his career, “The Smashing Machine.” He plays the real-life mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr, a two-time world champion who fought drug addiction and depression.
Johnson endured three hours of makeup and prosthetics a day to look like Kerr, and he’s never played anyone quite so real before. But it’s something he says he’s been aching to do.
“For years, I’ve been dreaming and hoping,” he said. “My desire was to play not only a dramatic role, but something that I felt like I could really sink my teeth into, and rip myself open. You hear that term. I just didn’t want to do drama. I wanted to do something that really allowed me to do that.”
To watch a trailer for “The Smashing Machine” click on the player below:
I asked, “This is a big, raw role. Did you have any doubts that you could do it?”
“When it became real, yes,” he said.
Director Benny Safdie paired Johnson with Emily Blunt as Mark Kerr’s volatile wife, Dawn Staples. The two last worked together in Disney’s 2021 film “Jungle Cruise,” the kind of film on which Johnson built his multi-billion-dollar career.
“I was chasing something for a lot of years, and what I was chasing was box office,” he said. “And there’s a part of me, the brain [that goes], ‘Don’t rock the boat. Stay in this zone. Everyone’s happy. You’re paying the bills.’ But the heart is like, ‘Yeah. But you’re not being fulfilled.'”
“Did you feel like that, you weren’t being fulfilled?” I asked.
“One hundred percent,” Johnson said. “But I was really nervous. And on day one, I remember Benny coming to me, and Emily as well, [they] said, ‘Are you scared?’ I went, ‘Yes.'”
“You flat out said, ‘Yes, I’m scared’?”
“Absolutely. I am.”
And Dwayne Johnson doesn’t scare easily.
His father was a professional wrestler, and with dad on the road a lot of the time, young Dwayne grew up with his share of trauma. When he was 15, Dwayne and his mom were evicted from their apartment because they couldn’t pay the rent.
He moved around a lot, and eventually started wrestling on local TV in Memphis, which he showed us in 2022.
We also saw where he stayed back then: a dilapidated trailer in nearby Mississippi.
The trailer park kid fought his way out of poverty, became the wrestling legend known as “The Rock,” and eventually moved into movies, from action (the “Fast and the Furious” series) to animation (“Moana”).
For “The Smashing Machine,” he had to find a way to transform into someone whose whole world was coming apart, like the scene where Mark Kerr loses his first fight. To conjure up the feelings of despair on camera, Johnson knew right where to go. “I went back to what it’s like being a 15-year-old kid and coming home and being evicted,” he said.
I asked, “You said it felt like you were ripping yourself open. What do you think that did for you, Dwayne Johnson, ripping yourself open like that?”
“The thing that I was running from, which was ripping myself open, is actually the thing that I needed the most,” he replied, “because it made me realize that the thing I love, which is acting and telling these stories, now I see it in a different world.”
These days, Johnson talks a lot about gratitude. At his property in Virginia, far from the trailer in Mississippi, he said, “Even more reason to be grateful.”
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One thing he won’t talk about: Oscar buzz. “No, no, I can’t, I can’t,” he said. “The thought that that is even a question? … You know, trailer park kid.”
The married father of three will be starting work on another “Moana” film soon, and also another drama. Yes, Dwayne Johnson will always be The Rock, but as any scientist can tell you, rocks can change.
This Rock, for one, seems smaller now. “Yeah. Svelte!” he laughed. “Because I’m preparing for a role.”
“So, this really is, this is like a new era for you?”
“It’s a new, I wouldn’t say, chapter. I would say new book. A whole new book. And I love it.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Extended interview – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
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Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler.
Isiah Whitlock Jr., known for his roles in “The Wire,” “Veep” and several Spike Lee movies, has died, his manager confirmed to CBS News. He was 71.
A cause of death was not immediately provided.
His manager, Brian Liebman, described Whitlock in an Instagram post as a “brilliant actor and even better person.”
“It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him — you loved him,” Liebman wrote. “A brilliant actor and even better person. May his memory forever be a blessing. Our hearts are so broken. He will be very, very missed.”
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Born in Indiana in 1954, Whitlock attended Southwest Minnesota State University and joined the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco after graduating. His first movie appearance was in the 1981 TV movie version of “A Christmas Carol.”
He’s perhaps best known for his role as state Sen. R. Clayton “Clay” Davis on HBO’s “The Wire.” He appeared on all five seasons of the acclaimed crime drama.
Whitlock was a recurring character in seasons two through four of the HBO comedy “Veep,” playing Defense Secretary George Maddox.
Whitlock was a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee and appeared in several movies, including “25th Hour,” “She Hate Me,” “Red Hook Summer,” “Chi-Raq,” “BlacKkKlansman” and “Da 5 Bloods.”
In a tribute posted to Instagram, Lee wrote, “Today I Learned Of The Passing Of My Dear Beloved Brother ISIAH WHITLOCK. GOD BLESS.”
Whitlock made several appearances in the sketch comedy series “Chappelle’s Show.” On the big screen, he also had roles in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas,” as well as in “Pieces of April,” “Enchanted” and Pixar’s “Cars 3” and “Lightyear.”
He voiced a character in Pixar’s upcoming animated sci-fi comedy “Hoppers,” slated for release in 2026.
A private memorial service was recently held to honour actor Peter Greene, bringing together close friends and loved ones to remember the late star in an intimate and emotional gathering.
The service took place on Dec. 27 at St. Michael Church in Cranford, New Jersey, where roughly 35 to 40 people gathered to say goodbye to the actor best known for his role in The Mask.
Those in attendance included several of Greene’s longtime friends and collaborators, among them The Sopranos actor Federico Castelluccio, Vincent Young, Saul Stein, Garry Pastore, musician Skam Dust, and producer Noel Ashman.
According to a source familiar with the event, the atmosphere was deeply emotional, with many attendees sharing personal memories and stories about Greene’s life and career.
Castelluccio, who worked with Greene on the 2019 film Exit 0, delivered a heartfelt tribute during the service.
He described Greene as “one of the best character actors of his generation,” a moment that reportedly moved many in the room to tears.
“Everyone shared a story, and everyone broke down crying,” the source said. “People loved him like a brother.”
Greene, who was born in Montclair, New Jersey, was found dead in his Lower East Side apartment on Dec. 13 at the age of 60.
His longtime manager, Gregg Edwards, previously said the actor was in good spirits just days before his passing.
Close friend Skam Dust also shared that Greene had been making plans to celebrate New Year’s Eve, saying, “He was going to rent a truck limousine… He wasn’t suicidal.”
Producer Noel Ashman, who cast Greene in the upcoming film 3 Days Rising alongside Ice-T and Mickey Rourke, described him as “a once-in-a-lifetime friend” and said his passing was completely unexpected.
“He was so talented and had so much more to give,” Ashman said.
Authorities have stated that no foul play is suspected, and the official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.
Mark Wright’s mother, Carol, has shared her role as a mother-in-law in a bombshell interview.
The former TOWIE star and Fool Me Once actress, both 38, tied the knot in 2015 in a lavish ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
During the latest episode of their family podcast Wright At Home, Carol spoke the heart about her relationship with Michelle.
Reading a letter sent in from a listener, her daughter Jess said: ‘Whenever my mother-in-law comes over she acts like I stole her son.’
Sharing her thoughts on the situation, Carol said: ‘It’s a hard one because everyone’s sons are like, you know, they’re your sons and… a woman comes along and they do take your son.
‘But I’m a bit different because I actually hold back because of that reason. ‘I always think that when the girl comes into our family it’s quite they feel a bit overpowering to so many of us, so I seem to be like I hold back a bit.’
At this point Jess also shared that she hated the narrative that her mum was this ‘evil mother-in-law’ because it is far from the truth.
‘It’s nothing like me, I’m totally the opposite,’ Carol explained before admitting that she would step in to ‘protect’ her son, if needed.
It comes after Mark and Michelle celebrated their first Christmas as a family of three with their daughter baby Palma.
The couple welcomed their first child together in March of this year.
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Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor known for his roles in “The Wire” and “Veep,” dies at 71
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