How Emily Blunt Served as a Matchmaker for Benny Safdie & Dwayne Johnson for 'The Smashing Machine' | THR Video - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Emily Blunt talks to THR on the red carpet for 'The Smashing Machine' premiere and dishes on how she served as a "matchmaker" between director Benny Safdie and star Dwayne Johnson. Plus, she revealed how she knew Johnson could take on such a different role.

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00:00You were kind of the matchmaker between Benny and Dwayne on this, right?

00:03I know, I know. I should start a side gig of matchmaking.

00:09I mean, they met in 2019, and then I think the project kind of drifted.

00:16And then on Oppenheimer, when Benny and I were in the makeup trailer,

00:19he was like, you're friends with Dwayne Johnson, right?

00:21And I was like, yeah. So we kind of reconnected that way.

00:25I watched the documentary while I shot Oppenheimer,

00:27and I thought it was the clearest no-brainer I'd ever experienced

00:34as to who should play Mark and that he should do it now.

00:37And I called him and I said, you have to do it, and you've got to do it now.

00:42Like, it's so brilliant for you.

00:45And he hasn't really done a dramatic role like this.

00:47How did you know that he could do it?

00:49I mean, I think that he's a very profound person.

00:52I think in many ways he's the opposite of the persona of The Rock.

00:57You know, I think The Rock almost simplifies him.

01:02You know, he's a human being and has had a life and has struggled,

01:07and he's able to access all of that as a person and as a friend.

01:13So I was excited to see him put that in front of the camera.

01:17When you two are such close friends, what is it like shooting these very intense and kind of fight scenes?

01:22Sort of sponsored by tequila.

01:25I think the aftermath of them is like, the comedown is real.

01:31I think also the way Benny shoots is so, the blur of reality and fiction is quite intense.

01:39And so they leave their mark on you, these scenes.

01:44So we would often, after one of the big fight scenes, just all sit on the floor together and try to talk it out, you know.

01:52So it was very transporting in that way and I think essential to creating this energy of the phrase we always said was as real as it gets.

02:08And so we just had to constantly try to search for a reality, but that also means that you are like done in by the end of some of these scenes.

How Emily Blunt Served as a Matchmaker for Benny Safdie & Dwayne Johnson for 'The Smashing Machine' | THR Video

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