The Smashing Machine movie was largely ignored by fans, but international journalists voting in the 2026 Golden Globes were paying close attention to the ovation-worthy performances by co-stars Dwayne
“The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt. Johnson played former UFC fighter Mark Kerr, while Blunt played his girlfriend, Dawn Staples.
Johnson earned a nomination for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture and will go up against Hollywood heavy hitters Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, and Jeremy Allen White. Blunt drew a nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role alongside Ariana Grande, Amy Madigan and Teyana Taylor.
Read the full list of nominations here.
Sounds like this prediction, brushed off as promoter hyperbole at the time, may actually come true.
“Smashing Machine changed my life, in ways that I didn’t anticipate,” Johnson told The Treatment. “I still wanted to chase a challenge in ways that I had not been challenged before. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to transform because I thought, as an actor — and this was self imposed — I thought as an actor, I don’t know if I could disappear. I don’t know if I could become a character actor. I don’t know. I’d like to try. I don’t know. But I wanted to, and I was hungry to do that. And so that’s what Smashing Machine represented for me.”
The 83rd Annual Golden Globes airs live on Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+, the new home for UFC.
