It was an emotional night for Dwayne Johnson at the Venice Film Festival as his film The Smashing Machine received a roaring 15-minute standing ovation.
The film, directed by Bennie Safdie and starring Johnson as former amateur wrestler-turned-MMA fighter Mark Kerr, reportedly received one of the longest ovations yet since this year’s international film fest kicked off on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
“I have for a long time wanted this,” Johnson said before the premiere.
“The transformation part was something I was really hungry to do. I’ve been very fortunate to have the career that I’ve had and make the films that I have, but there was just this voice inside of me, this little voice, like, what if I can do more.”