Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Emily Blunt and Benny Safdie sit down with CinemaBlend to talk about all things “The Smashing Machine!” Want to know how Dwayne Johnson demolished two doors by hand while filming? Or how Benny Safdie feels about his brother Josh Safdie making a new film without him? It’s all here, and much, much more.
00:03You were fantastic in the film, it really worked.
00:05Thank you very much.
00:06But I was wondering if you were ever hesitant to pitch yourself as a dude in his 20s.
00:11Wow, you know, I never really thought of it like that.
00:14Yeah, it never entered my brain.
00:17Didn't think about his age.
00:18Until, until afterwards.
00:20Until now.
00:21Until this number.
00:22Which made you feel very old.
00:24I'm 108.
00:26But you pulled it off.
00:28Thank you man.
00:30Thank you man.
00:31Do you hate each other when you fight?
00:33Absolutely not.
00:41I just felt like I knew Mark so intimately.
00:45I'd met Mark in the late 90s and I was, you know, we were all so impressed with Mark.
00:50That time I was wrestling, I'd just started my career in wrestling.
00:53So, I just felt like I knew Mark's DNA and was so excited to live in his skin.
00:59So I felt like I knew him so well, I didn't really think about it.
01:02I just felt like the most important thing that I could do was to put on the weight that was required.
01:07And also, I understood very quickly that it was, it's not just putting on muscle or size, it's putting on a certain quality of muscle.
01:16That kind of muscle is very fast twitch.
01:19And there's separation, it's just a lot happening because Mark's body was insane.
01:24And so, I talked to Benny early and he said, you know, I don't know if you've ever been asked this before, but I think you need to gain more weight.
01:34And that's hard.
01:35Hard.
01:36The amount of new muscle in different areas, that's like, it's a really difficult thing to do.
01:43And still be able to move.
01:44Yes, yeah.
01:45And be fluid too as well as an athlete.
01:47So, that was the only thing for me that I really wanted to make sure that I looked the part that I was able to transform physically, vocally to as well.
01:55And I felt confident that I could move around in a ring because I felt like I had that generalship already of it.
02:02So, but didn't think about his age.
02:04Come on, are you ready?
02:05Yes.
02:06I think Dawn could be looked at out of context as being like a negative presence in Mark's life.
02:13But this film does such a good job at exploring the nuance in a way where you see that a lot of that is a response to like being straight up gas lit.
02:19Sure.
02:20So, was it important to you to do the Dawns of the world justice?
02:23For sure.
02:24I mean, I think there's huge complexities to being with someone whose life is on the line constantly, like whether it's their own addiction or in the ring.
02:33And I think that yes, they had a hazardous sort of eruptive relationship, but also there was huge love, profound devotion and love and need for each other.
02:43But I think that, I don't know if it's an easy thing to be living with such a dedicated athlete like that.
02:50So, I think it was important to see that.
02:52And we talked about that very thing, like we wanted an equality to that relationship, you know, that like both people can be at fault here.
03:00And like no one's more responsible for the domestic drama than anyone else.
03:04Yeah.
03:05I don't feel like we see that a lot.
03:06You know, it was really refreshing.
03:07That's great.
03:09It was important to us because in the documentary, it's framed a different way and perhaps a little unfairly towards Dawn.
03:16And because yes, Mark put his life on the line every time he stepped in the ring of the cage, but he wasn't the only one sacrificing things.
03:23Yeah.
03:24So, Dawn was sacrificing things too.
03:25So, I give a lot of credit to Emily and Benny.
03:27They really wanted to make sure that that equality was there.
03:30It's 40,000 people.
03:31Yeah.
03:32And they're cheering you on.
03:33There's no other high like it in the world.
03:36I gotta ask, you know, you and your brother both have films coming out this year independently of one another.
03:40Yeah, isn't that amazing?
03:41I'm wondering if you think the audiences are going to start to discern tonal differences between your styles, the way that we have been with the Coens.
03:48Yeah.
03:49You know, I think what is, it's a unique point of view, you know, that like, yeah, you get to see us make separate movies, you know, and I think that that's exciting.
03:59You know, it's cool that we both are doing that at the same time.
04:03You know, I was telling a story that like, I was just like walking on the street and I was taking pictures and somebody was like, oh, you should, you see that?
04:09Like, you should go see what they did downtown.
04:11And I was like, oh, I wonder what that is.
04:12And I knew exactly what he was talking about.
04:13Wow.
04:14You know, but I was just like, oh, isn't that funny?
04:16It was your brother's film?
04:17It was my brother's film.
04:18Yeah.
04:19Exactly.
04:20So, it was just like, it was just funny.
04:21They had no idea that I was like in any, so I was like, oh, that's pretty cool, you know.
04:24I gotta ask before they were at me, did you really break that door?
04:27Yes.
04:28Yeah.
04:29What was the door made out of?
04:30Was it just a regular ass door that you just went in on?
04:33The door, I went in on the door, both doors.
04:35Two door breaks.
04:36Yes.
04:37Bathroom, as well as the kitchen.
04:38Oh, that's right.
04:39Yes.
04:40And that, no, it's okay, but that house, just so you know, and I think your viewers will find this really interesting, is that house was built from scratch on a soundstage.
04:46Benny wanted to build it from scratch.
04:48No movable walls, so he could hide the cameras.
04:51And everything, running water, so everything was real, including the door.
04:55Yeah.
04:56This is why my elbow is still swollen.
04:57You see where my elbow is?
04:58Like, this has not gone down by the way in months.
05:00That's insane.
05:01Look at this.
05:02That's crazy.
05:03Look at that.
05:04Look at this shit.
05:05This is shit.
05:06By the way, this is the one that got injured.
05:07Remember up there, it was all black and blue.
05:08Well, that's right, and it's, that's actually in the, you block a kick.
05:10Is that from the door?
05:11Yes.
05:12You block a kick.
05:13And then it came back.
05:14Yes, from the door.
05:15This one from the door, and then I blocked the kick, and then it came back.
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