Dwayne Johnson is cooking up something new. After years of being the king of Hollywood blockbusters, amᴀssing $15 billion at the box office throughout his career, the former WWE star is now lessening his reliance on the typical big-budget action tentpole movies audiences are used to getting with him.

Next month, Johnson headlines A24’s The Smashing Machine, which sees him play real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr in his most dramatic role yet. From the moment the casting was revealed, it became clear that The Rock was looking for a new career path.

He’s spent the better part of 15 years being Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster star. He went along with the success that came, becoming known as “franchise viagra” after Hollywood saw the box office grosses of franchises like Fast & Furious, Journey, G.I. Joe, and Jumanji increase after his addition to the casts.

But amid all the big paydays and box office records, fatigue sat in. I’m not the only one who grew tired of Johnson playing essentially the same character in many of his movies, with even his costumes sometimes being way too similar. The string of box office and critical misses in recent years – which includes Jungle Cruise, Red Notice, Black Adam, and Red One – was the last straw.

Johnson’s endless charisma and huge social media presence had done their job in transitioning him from wrestler to movie star. Now, The Smashing Machine marks the beginning of a career pivot that the actor desperately needs. What comes next gives me confidence that this will be a moment to remember.

The Smashing Machine Marks The Start Of Dwayne Johnson’s Dramatic Acting Pursuit

Johnson has done dramatic roles before, but they are few and far between the blockbusters that range from exciting fun to dull IP expansion that he’s been part of in the past. But even in those rare instances, they were not the types of movies or performances that showed the full range of his abilities.

The Smashing Machine is bucking that trend. Writer/director Benny Safdie has given Johnson his most dramatic role to date, and all indications are that the actor known for cracking a few jokes, raising his eyebrow, and flexing his muscles embraced the challenge.

Following the movie’s premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it received a 15+ minute standing ovation, reviews have been largely positive. The Smashing Machine‘s Rotten Tomatoes score is a solid 84%, which is the third-highest of his career. While critics have their negatives about the movie, Johnson’s performance is universally praised.

The response confirms that Johnson has always had an Oscar-worthy performance inside him, he just needed the right material and director to get it out of him. And now that he’s shown all of Hollywood – and soon audiences too – what he’s capable of, there’s more to come.

The Rock still has a few blockbusters on the horizon in Jumanji 3 and Disney’s live-action Moana (and another Fast & Furious), but he’s more focused on finding projects he’s connecting to, rather than their box office potential. That’s a temptation he directly addressed at Venice alongside The Smashing Machine‘s debut (via BBC):

I have wanted this for a long time. When you’re in Hollywood, as we all know, it had become about box office and you chase the box office. And the box office in our business is very loud, it can be very [overwhelming]. It can push you into a corner and category — ‘This is your lane, this is what you do, and this is what people want you to be and this is what Hollywood wants you to be.’ And I understood that, and I made those movies and I liked them and they were fun, and some were really good and did well, and some not so good! But I think what I did realize is I just had this burning desire and this voice that was just saying, ‘What if there’s more, what if I can?’ Sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re capable of when you’ve been pigeon-holed into something. It’s harder to know, ‘Wait, can I do that? I feel like I can.’ And sometimes it takes people who you love and respect to say ‘you can.’

Johnson’s desire to step outside his comfort zone and show more of himself is clear when looking at the projects he is lining up after working on the Mark Kerr biopic. He’s already reteamed with A24 for the psychological thriller Breakthrough, where he’ll play a twisted motivational guru.

Even Martin Scorsese is taking his pivot seriously, casting him in a Hawaii-set crime drama alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt. Even one of the greatest directors of all time is smelling what The Rock is cooking and looking to help further this new chapter of his career.

Dwayne Johnson’s History Proves To Me He’ll Be A Successful Dramatic Actor

The rave reviews for Johnson’s performance in The Smashing Machine only strengthen the position he’s in as he moves from blockbuster star to someone who could be in awards conversations more regularly. On some level, it might seem difficult to take this change seriously and believe that The Rock can pull this off.

However, history proves that doubting the switch would be foolish. Johnson is nothing if not determined, and there’s a long track record of him finding success in an area when he commits his mind, soul, and body to his goals.

That’s how he became one of the faces of the WWE’s Atтιтude Era and earned 10 world championship тιтles. All he did after this was become one of Hollywood’s highest-grossing actors as he headlined some of the biggest movies from the 2010s.

Johnson has even found plenty of success in other business ventures, like his Teremana Tequila brand or relaunching the XFL. Plus, he’s become a powerful producer through Seven Bucks Productions, which gets its name from how much money he had after being cut from the CFL before signing with WWE.

That story really exemplifies Johnson’s journey and how he achieves his goals. Now that he’s put dramatic work at the forefront of his career at long last, I’ve got full confidence that he’s going to do the same in this area.

It’s been frustrating at times in the past watching Johnson play it safe with comedies and action movies that don’t challenge him. That’s not the case with The Smashing Machine, Breakthrough, Scorsese’s crime drama, and whatever other projects he finds next.

Perhaps this will even lead him to finally make progress on The King, a movie announced in 2018 that could be the Hawaiian version of Braveheart. It’s projects like those that Dwayne Johnson must keep pursuing, and in doing so, he could deliver some of his most fulfilling work to date.