Dwayne Johnson turned heads at the Venice Film Festival as he arrived with a stunning transformation. The Fast and Furious star appeared to flaunt a thinner physique, leaving his fans to wonder if he had shed some pounds for a new movie role.
Johnson, who is known by his nickname, Rock, was at the prestigious film festival to honor his film, The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie. However, more than anything else, the actor’s dramatic transformation generated significant buzz.
Just as his fans speculated, Dwayne indeed changed his appearance for a film role. The movie star himself confirmed that he was losing weight for his new film, Lizard Music. In this upcoming “whimsical” film, he will reunite with Safdie, taking on yet another challenging role. After his transformation made headlines, fans wondered what he did to lose the pounds.
Given the current Ozempic trend, many wondered if Johnson also pursued the same way to lose weight. However, as it turns out, he is actually shedding the extra pounds in the traditional way. At the 2025 Toronto Film Festival, he revealed, “[It means] eating less chicken,” as reported by Variety. Although he didn’t reveal more about his weight loss journey, it’s safe to assume that he made a few more changes to his diet.
Dwayne Johnson also seemed quite happy about the changes he made for his role in The Smashing Machine. “This transformation was something I was really hungry to do,” he told Hollywood Reporter. We can only conclude that he feels the same way about his upcoming role in Safdie’s next project.
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Notably, this is not the first time, the star downsized himself for his work. Even earlier in his career, he sported a skinnier build to better fit his big screen roles. In a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he shared what was the motive behind his transformation at that time. “I was told that I had to conform to a standard in Hollywood that would beget me more work, better roles,” the part-time WWE star shared.
He continued, “Which meant I had to stop going to the gym, which meant I couldn’t be as big, which meant you had to distance yourself from wrestling. You essentially had to deconstruct yourself.” Although at that time, it didn’t work out well for him, he returned in a completely new avatar at the Venice Film Festival.
At the red carpet, he looked quite smaller than usual in his grey suit, but his muscles were retained nevertheless. This new transformation further reveals his attempt to reinvent himself for his art.
CNN reports that about his new journey, Johnson said, “A lot of times, it’s harder for us, or at least for me, sometimes to know what you’re capable of when you’ve been pigeon-holed into something.”
