Dwayne Johnson seems to be setting himself up for a wave of award nominations for his role as Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, but during the premiere of the Benny Safdie movie at the Venice Film Festival, many fans were more interested to know why Johnson appeared to be just half the man he used to be – literally. Well, it seems that there is nothing untoward to worry about, as it is all in aid of his next movie with Safdie, in which he plays a 70-year-old man.
Johnson needed to bulk up his physique to play Kerr in The Smashing Machine, which made his appearance at Venice even more shocking for his fans, who have always been used to seeing the former wrestler with a fighting frame. His slimmed-down appearance has not been easily explained as the actor confirmed that he is playing the role of “a whimsical, eccentric 70-something year-old called Chicken Man” in Safdie’s pitch for the fantasy movie Lizard Music.
“Benny pitched me this after,” Johnson said during a career retrospect on Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival. “And after about 45 minutes, this pitch ended, and I said, ‘I am your Chicken Man.’”
When bulking up to play Kerr, Johnson reportedly put on 30 pounds of muscle, which he has since shed. It seems that he still has some way to go for his latest challenging transformation. He added:
“I still have a long ways to go. I’m so excited to get a chance to hopefully transform again like I was able to do in Smashing Machine. [It means] eating less chicken.”
What is ‘Lizard Music’?
For those who have not heard of Lizard Music, it is a 2011 children’s fantasy novel by Daniel Pinkwater, which sees Victor befriending a curious person while exploring the city of Hogboro while his parents are away and his older sister is not taking her babysitting duties too seriously. Named the Chicken Man – because he has a chicken companion who lives under his hat, obviously – the unlikely trio go on an adventure to discover who the lizard musicians are that have started appearing on late night television. Their journey leads them to the floating island where the lizards live, which is a fantastical place with rules and logic all of its own.
Johnson has spent many years playing the tough action hero, but The Smashing Machine and Lizard Music seem to be the start of a new era for the actor. While he isn’t leaving behind his big IP roles just yet – he reprises his role as Maui in the live-action version of Moana and is expected to return to both the Fast & Furious, Jungle Cruise, and Jumanji franchises in the not too distant future – his desire to be seen as more than just another tough, meaty action hero is starting to show in his movie choices, which also include an upcoming A42 psychological thriller.
