"I was really scared", "He's lucky to be alive" - The Rock opens up on real-life struggles

The Rock has opened up on real-life struggles he went through. The Brahma Bull will star in the movie The Smashing Machine, based on the life of former UFC fighter Mark Kerr.

The People's Champion has talked about how intense the preparation for the movie was for him. He has opened up about adding more muscle and training in MMA style for the film.

During an interview with IMDb, he revealed that he was scared to play the role and questioned whether he would succeed in bringing Kerr's life to the big screen. He said that the role represented more than just a film based on the fighter.

"It also represents for me just kind of like doing something that I was really scared to do. To be honest with you, I’ve not been in that position. Where I was scared, like, I don’t, can I do this? Am I going to fail? I don’t know, I’ve never, 13 or 14 prosthetics and a physical transformation, a vocal transformation. How he walked, his mentality, he OD’d twice, he’s lucky to be alive. There’s so much in this volatile relationship that was still an impassioned one with love that he had. So it was a lot. Everything was different," he said.

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The Rock then mentioned how growing up as the only child and his father's tough love made it difficult to admit that he was scared of something. But working with director Benny Safdie and co-star Emily Blunt helped him be vulnerable.

You can watch the interview below:

The Rock suffered a concussion during filming of The Smashing Machine

In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Rock opened up on how some scenes in The Smashing Machine required him to take real hits.

He said during one scene he asked his co-star to punch him for real, but the Japanese star refused. The Final Boss had to plead with him, and Benny Safdie then convinced him to hit the WWE star for real.

This left The Rock feeling "loopy," as he admitted that he suffered a legitimate concussion during the scene.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit IMDb and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik