The star took on the most intense, challenging role of his career in Benny Safdie’s new film. He speaks for the first time about how he pulled it off: “I realized that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff.”

In the months, weeks, and days leading up to the start of production on The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson contended with an unfamiliar feeling: He was nervous. “It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?” he says. “I realized that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff.”

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