Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Breaks Down In Tears After Receiving 15-Minute Standing Ovation Following Premiere Of Sports Biopic ‘The Smashing Machine’

Not the side of The Rock fans are used to seeing.

Actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is starring in the new sports biopic The Smashing Machine, which is a film written, directed, co-produced, and edited by Benny Safdie.

The Smashing Machine tells the story of former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, played by Johnson, alongside Emily Blunt as Kerr’s then-wife Dawn Staples, with Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten and Oleksandr Usyk in supporting roles.

It follows the blossoming of the UFC in the late 90’s as a professional sport, and how it wasn’t without its controversy in terms of the dangerous nature of fighting and the public perception at the time. The film follows Kerr going from an “already acclaimed freestyle wrestler” to a UFC fighter and how that affected his personal and professional life.

This past weekend, the movie premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion, and Johnson appeared visibly emotional after receiving a “15-minute standing ovation” from the people in the audience following the first screening of the movie. He cries some too, and you can see him wiping away tears as his co-star Emily Blunt comforts him while they wave to the crowd.

The Venice Film Festival audience is usually pretty tough, so I imagine he gave an incredible performance to be reeving that sort of recognition for his role already:

Dwayne Johnson cries during the 15-minute standing ovation for his new movie ‘THE SMASHING MACHINE’

Read our review: https://t.co/ejtQIs1Usz pic.twitter.com/17pQYebeat

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 1, 2025

It’s pretty rare to see Johnson get so emotional like that, especially in front of so many cameras, but it’s clear how much this film and role means to him, and some critics have even said it’s a “spectacular career-best performance,” from Johnson, who is obviously already a very well-known, respected actor who has been in countless great movies over the years.

With some of the early reviews coming in, The Smashing Machine already debuted with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that reviews and rates movies where you typically never see a score close to that, especially from film critics:

‘THE SMASHING MACHINE’ debuts with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Described as having a spectacular career-best performance from Dwayne Johnson.

Read our review: https://t.co/ejtQIs1Usz pic.twitter.com/mYlj9ZVrVf

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 1, 2025

But that wasn’t the only viral moment he’s had lately…

Johnson has been looking noticeably more slim and trim during the appearances and press he’s done for the movie so far, and while he’s always been super buff and jacked, he definitely appears to have leaned out and fans are freaking out online over how different he looks now compared to his usual, extremely muscular physique.

The film trailer for his aforementioned new movie features the Johnson we’re used to seeing on our TV screens, so maybe he’s looking to do some sort of very different role for his next movie and he had to get much thinner for it? Who knows, but it’s definitely different a different look for him and pretty shocking, honestly:

Skinny Rock! pic.twitter.com/Y6I4FgQEae

— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) September 1, 2025

The Smashing Machine is set to be released in the United States on October 3rd, 2025, and you can view the trailer here. It looks great:

The post Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Breaks Down In Tears After Receiving 15-Minute Standing Ovation Following Premiere Of Sports Biopic ‘The Smashing Machine’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.