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Dwayne Johnson: I was pigeon-holed as box office star
BBC ^ | Sep 2025 | Steven McIntosh

Posted on 09/01/2025 8:45:20 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege

US actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has said he had a "burning desire" to make a different kind of film, after years of being "pigeon-holed" as a blockbuster star.

The 53-year-old could be in line for the first Oscar nomination of his career for his role in The Smashing Machine, which has just launched at the Venice Film Festival.

Johnson said playing UFC fighter Mark Kerr in the movie had "certainly changed my life", adding that the transformation was something he was "really hungry to do".

He told journalists: "I've been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity to do this."

Johnson, also known as The Rock from his own earlier career in wrestling, added he didn't think playing the role was "about anything to prove to Hollywood as much as it is for me, internally".

Variety's Owen Gleiberman described his performance as "a revelation", adding that he "seems like a new actor".

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 1619project; blackkk; blackliesmanors; blackliesmatter; blacklivesmatter; blm; california; criticalracetheory; crt; dwaynejohnson; film; gavinnewsom; hollywood; kamalaharris; moviereviews; movies; nitwit; therock

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1 posted on 09/01/2025 8:45:20 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I’d say life has been pretty good to him given his actual talent level.

A little gratitude would suit him better.


2 posted on 09/01/2025 8:48:59 PM PDT by DarrellZero
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I saw an Ad for his new movie. They say The Rock is also the Star, but the actor I saw in the Ad does not look like him.
Maybe some younger Wrestler is acting that role.


3 posted on 09/01/2025 8:54:31 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I would absolutely volunteer for pigeon-holing for $$-gazillions-$$


4 posted on 09/01/2025 8:57:14 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try )
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I’ts creepy how he’s the latest ‘product’ they’ve decided to make a hit. LIKE HIM! YOU MUST LIKE HIM! And I don’t believe he’s always been hungry to be a better actor -just rich and famous would have been enough for him. His a marketing product.


5 posted on 09/01/2025 9:00:02 PM PDT by ransomnote (IN GOD WE TRUST)
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His career choices are his own.

6 posted on 09/01/2025 9:01:03 PM PDT by proust (All posts made under this handle are, for the intents and purposes of the author, considered satire.)
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To: DarrellZero

Yeah, but lately there has been a bunch of critic hate on him so I understand him saying this.


7 posted on 09/01/2025 9:08:50 PM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: proust

Yep same outfit, same color tones.


8 posted on 09/01/2025 9:09:37 PM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
"I've been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity to do this."

Never go full retard.

9 posted on 09/01/2025 9:17:06 PM PDT by glorgau
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I pass on all things Dwayne Johnson.


10 posted on 09/01/2025 9:23:15 PM PDT by LeonardFMason
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To: DarrellZero
"A little gratitude would suit him better."

I agree. He type-cast himself, just like Samuel L. Jackson type-cast himself. They went for the money. Jackson complained not too long ago that blacks rarely get parts in period dramas, and that's because in most cases, there weren't blacks in those positions at that period of time. Can you see the jive talking Jackson playing the role of Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel series "Vikings"? It's bad enough that revisionists have seen fit to give a black woman the role of Anne Boleyn, or a black woman portray the daughter-in-law of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's Lord Great Chamberlain, or a young black man as Henry VIII's son Edward VI, which have all happened.

11 posted on 09/01/2025 9:31:50 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

He is lucky to have survived steroid use this long.

it caught up with Arnold, wit multiple heart surgeries.


12 posted on 09/01/2025 10:02:29 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

He was actually pretty funny in the movie where he said he was working for the gov, and another fella was along,for the ride, but unsure he was telling the truth. Can’t remember the name, but it was a pretty funny movie


13 posted on 09/01/2025 10:05:31 PM PDT by Bob434 (Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)
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To: mass55th

“a black woman the role of Anne Boleyn,”

You have got to be shiiting me?

Do not watch TV, so could be just out of the loop.


14 posted on 09/01/2025 10:05:40 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Well, you could have always just played yourself, Dwayne. A muscle bound dumb f**k.


15 posted on 09/01/2025 10:06:18 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's ok---- I wasn't married to it.)
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To: lee martell

Prosthetics, make up, hair piece, but it’s him.


16 posted on 09/01/2025 10:34:21 PM PDT by ducttape45 (Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?")
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To: doorgunner69
"You have got to be shiiting me?"

Anne Boleyn tv series (2021)

17 posted on 09/01/2025 11:04:51 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
No one cares...
18 posted on 09/01/2025 11:51:33 PM PDT by BFW
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

lols....his real problem is that he is a crappy, one dimensional actor. Boring!


19 posted on 09/02/2025 12:13:23 AM PDT by dennisw (There is no limit to human stupidity)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

From the article: [Johnson has been praised by critics in early reviews of the film. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman described his performance as “a revelation”, adding that he “seems like a new actor”.]

“Seems like a new actor”could be taken 2 ways.
The critics were especially impressed by Johnson’s lament at the climax of the film: “I coulda been a contender!”


20 posted on 09/02/2025 12:47:36 AM PDT by I-ambush (From the brightest star comes the blackest hole-You had so much to offer, why didya offer your soul?)
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