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.

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.”

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    

For more info:

     
Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler. 

Adele is said to be in discussions to headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, nearly a decade after turning down the opportunity.

According to Page Six, the 16-time Grammy Award winner, is rumored to take the stage at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, when the NFL’s championship game takes place next February. 

While negotiations are reportedly ongoing, she has not yet been officially confirmed.

The Hello singer previously revealed she declined an invitation to perform at the 2017 Super Bowl, telling a Los Angeles audience at the time, “First of all, I’m not doing the Super Bowl… I mean, that show is not about music. I can’t dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I did say no.”

Adele has attended the Super Bowl as a fan, most recently in 2024 alongside her fiancé, sports agent Rich Paul. 

She admitted she was more excited to see Rihanna’s halftime performance than the game itself, joking with fans, “I went, obviously I didn’t go for the football at all. I went to watch Rihanna.”

Other artists rumored to be in contention for the 2026 slot include Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.

The news comes as Adele is reportedly preparing for several major career moves, including a multi-million-pound book deal for a tell-all autobiography, a possible world tour, and the release of new music.

Her recent Las Vegas and Munich residencies helped boost her fortune to an estimated £170 million, while her Munich shows set Guinness World Records for both ticket sales and the largest continuous outdoor LED screen used in a concert.

If confirmed, Adele’s Super Bowl appearance would mark one of the most highly anticipated halftime performances in recent years.

King Charles younger son Prince Harry recently defended his tell-all autobiography “Spare”, insisting he had no regrets after its publication more than two years ago sowed discord within the British royal family.

Archie and Lilibet doting father told the Guardian, “I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public.”

“It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible,” Prince Harry shared. “My conscience is clear.”

Harry made these remarks following his crucial meeting with King Charles in London.

Now, commenting on Harry’s interview, royal expert Jennie Bond believes “I don’t think it’s serious trouble: he didn’t say anything that we hadn’t already heard. But it may well have set alarm bells ringing at the Palace. Nothing, it seems, can be guaranteed to be kept private by Harry.”

However, she tells the Mirror, Prince Harry would have been “better to stay zipped about his meeting with his father”.

She said: “His first comment was that his dad was ‘great’. And I don’t think the Palace would have any problem with that. But to have been drawn into commenting on whether he had any regrets about his book was naive.”