Overview

• Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt led a BAFTA VIP screening in London as Benny Safdie’s film rides Venice acclaim, including a lengthy ovation and the Silver Lion for directing.
• Johnson says he added about 30 pounds of athletic muscle to play Mark Kerr and later slimmed down for another role, emphasizing the changes were done safely and were not extreme.
• He recounts being legitimately rocked during a filmed sequence to capture Kerr’s fight reality, reflecting the production’s push for on-screen authenticity.
• Johnson describes his raw domestic scenes with Blunt as the hardest to shoot, with Safdie favoring spontaneous, one-time takes that left the actors emotionally drained.
• Mark Kerr has signed with Innovative Artists for endorsements, appearances, merchandising, acting and more, as A24’s biopic heads to U.S. theaters on October 3.