How The Rock transformed his body -- and mind -- into Mark Kerr - ESPN

SITTING IN A Beverly Hills hotel room during one of multiple media junkets, Dwayne Johnson spent nearly three minutes explaining how he morphed his mind and body into Mark Kerr for «The Smashing Machine» when he turned to the MMA pioneer and asked: «How did I do, by the way?»

Kerr opted for an anecdote. His son, Bryce, saw the film in New York a couple of months ago. He immediately called Kerr afterward and began whispering his thoughts, almost afraid to admit what he had seen.

"'Dad, he walks like you. He looks like you. He talks like you.' It was just [this] whole narrative of the confirmation of his transformation into somebody other than Dwayne Johnson," Kerr told ESPN and other reporters during a media roundtable last month. «It was this, you know, validation of a third party going, 'Oh my gosh, he's like Dad.'»

His son went even further, telling Kerr: «Dad, he's even got your heart.»

«Wow, man,» Johnson replied. «That's beautiful.»

The moment moved Kerr to tears on the phone.

Becoming Mark Kerr, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound former NCAA collegiate wrestling champion turned MMA fighter, included a process unlike any other during Johnson's acting career. A busy start to 2024 with his first WWE match in 11 years bled into a grueling month-long camp for «The Smashing Machine,» an A24 production that releases on Friday.

Each day on set required makeup that took three to four hours to complete and 21 prosthetics, courtesy of Academy Award winner Kazu Hiro, to make Johnson look like Kerr. Johnson worked with a voice coach to turn his speech into that of Kerr's, a soft, tender voice.

The result has been a performance that critics have lauded as one of Johnson's best, who looks almost unrecognizable on the big screen.

«I've never