The Rock has impressed many in his portrayal of Mark Kerr for the Benny Safdie written and directed film The Smashing Machine including someone who was quite close with Kerr. Bas Rutten was the individual in question who discussed Dwayne Johnson’s depiction of the titular figure of this film and the former UFC heavyweight champion touched upon this during an interview with Submission Radio. The former king of Pancrase was prominently featured in the original Smashing Machine documentary which served as the source material for this biopic.
Bas Rutten was involved in the training that was captured in the documentary as he aimed to guide the former UFC tournament champion as Kerr head into the 2000 Pride grand prix. When asked about what his thoughts were on The Rock’s depiction of Mark Kerr in this upcoming film, Bas Rutten said,
“Very impressive. I don’t know how he does it—he’s very friendly to everybody, gives time to everybody, doesn’t matter if you’re an extra. He’s a workaholic. I think WWE really prepared him for that… When I saw him, he had cursed shoulders—not many people have cursed shoulders. He knew he had to work on it, he tried to be identical as possible. The work ethic is there, it’s so easy to work with him.”
“When I saw him with the little tattoos, the pants, I was freaking out. I told her, ‘Look, I got goosebumps now, this is so real.’ There’s this scene we have in the gym where he’s talking to the press, and that was the very first time I heard him speak like Mark [Kerr] as well. I was very impressed—I was like, ‘Wow, this guy.’”
The Rock and some of the featured actors in The Smashing Machine
The Rock is obviously serving in the starring role here but the supporting cast for this looming film definitely speaks volumes to fans of both cinema and combat sports alike. Per the film’s official IMDb page, Emily Blunt will play the role of Dawn Staples who had a tumultuous romantic relationship with Kerr during the film of the referenced documentary. Bas Rutten will be playing himself in the film while the role of eventual 2000 Pride grand prix winner Mark Coleman will be handled by the former Bellator MMA heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader.
Unified heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk will play 2000 Pride grand prix finalist Igor Vovchanchyn while judo and MMA vet Satoshi Ishii will play Enson Inoue who fights Kerr in the referenced GP.
