Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, who starred together in the 2025 biopic The Smashing Machine, portraying the lives of legendary mixed martial arts (MMA) and UFC fighter Mark Kerr and his wife, Dawn Staples, respectively, have showered praise on each other.
According to People, during their appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival, the two actors lauded one another. The Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actor began by stating, “She is one of the greatest actors of our time—of all time. And also one of my best friends.” He explained his effort to build a bond with his on-screen love interest, saying, “In order to go to the place we were going to go, you have to have love, and then you have to have trust. And the love and the trust then allow for vulnerability.” Johnson added, “We could not have done that without this love and trust and vulnerability that we have.”
Gushing about her friendship with her co-star, The Devil Wears Prada actress chimed in, “We just became very fast friends, like an immediate secret language, which I think you feel with certain people that you work with.” Blunt further shared, “We just talked and shared our souls. And I was just really taken by, I guess, how different he was from what I had imagined.” Blunt concluded, “He was so gentle and quite interior and sort of contemplative and kind, just easy. Like, so lovely to be around, funny and quick, all these qualities.”
The Smashing Machine is scheduled to be released in cinemas on October 3, 2025.
