Set to portray former UFC star Mark Kerr in an upcoming biopic, WWE star Dwayne Johnson has been commended for his similarities to the Ohio veteran by a fellow cast member.
Johnson, a veteran of the WWE, popularly known as The Rock, looks to move away from his days of silly action comedy with this Benny Safdie-directed biopic from A24 productions.
Often criticized for looking and playing variations of ‘The Rock’ character during his entire filmography, Johnson has made it a point to be so lost in Kerr’s character that he looks almost unrecognizable in the trailer.
With whispers of this being Johnson’s opportunity to be considered for an Oscar, MMA veteran Bas Rutten, who also plays himself in the film, has lent a credible voice to Johnson’s work ethic to get into the character.
“You got to watch his (Dwayne Johnson’s) shoulders. He’s got the (Mark) Kerr shoulders, dude,” Rutten told Matt Serra during an interview. “Oh, yeah. They really worked on that. Like freaking bang. He looks like Kerr,” the Dutch striking innovator added.
“Yeah. And I go like, ‘Dude, it got me goosebumps.’ I go, ‘He really looks like Mark Kerr’. It’s crazy,” he explained.
The movie extends The Rock’s connection with the UFC. The superstar is not only close to Kerr. In March this year, Johnson had a 6-word message for ailing UFC fighter, Frank Mir. Mir underwent an emergency spinal fusion and laminectomy surgery on his entire thoracic spine. Johnson’s gesture on social media won him many admirers in the UFC community.
Johnson is also a big fan of fighters like Ben Astren and Daniel Cormier and overall, supports the UFC and its rise. He has also seen many fights with Dana White, which could have helped him in having the look, mindset and mannerisms of a UFC fighter.
Meanwhile, Johnson has also spoken about making this huge career decision with the movie, going from action flicks to one that requires him to call upon his acting chops.
In an interview with Variety, he had said, “I’m at this point in my career where I want more. And I don’t mean I want more box office. I mean, I want more humanity”.
Expected to serve as a biopic in a similar vein to The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr, which was released in 2002, the subject of this film is a fascinating one, to say the very least.
Kerr’s stunning life story in MMA
A heralded figure in both amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts, Kerr’s beginnings came under the tutelage of veteran fellow former UFC gold holder, Mark Coleman.
Boldly describing the feeling of competing as “orgasmic”, Kerr eventually moved to the now-defunct promotion, Pride FC, in 1998, following his pair of tournament wins with the UFC.
Apart from his exploits in the cage and ring, Kerr also boasted a supreme submission grappling pedigree by winning an ADCC superfight championship. Kerr, holding an All-American wrestling win over Randy Couture, beat Mario Sperry in their finale bout in 2001.
Despite these achievements, his career would be plagued by injuries and an addiction to painkillers – a story as old as time. Many combat sports athletes and professional wrestlers have lost their lives and livelihoods to prescription drugs in the absence of proper guidance and financial struggles.
Thankfully, Kerr emerged from the other side of the bleak tunnel. Having retired from the sport in 2010, Kerr is reported to have been suffering from peripheral neuropathy since 2016.
The ailment is brought upon by nerve damage to the outside of the head and to the spinal cord, causing pain and numbness to rush throughout the body.
