Dwayne Johnson Reveals Reason Behind Major Weight Loss After 'The Smashing Machine'

Dwayne Johnson's Venice Film Festival appearance sparked weight loss concerns, now revealed to be for his role as "Chicken Man" in "Lizard Music," directed by Benny Safdie.

Dwayne Johnson's Venice Film Festival appearance sparked weight loss concerns, now revealed to be for his role as "Chicken Man" in "Lizard Music," directed by Benny Safdie.

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Dwayne Johnson, also popularly known as 'The Rock', created quite a buzz at the recently concluded Venice Film Festival due to his drastic weight loss. The actor has now revealed the reason for his major weight drop, reported Variety.

After gaining appreciation for his portrayal of wrestler Mark Kerr in his film The Smashing Machine, The Rock revealed that he has to undergo another radical weight transformation for his upcoming movie titled Lizard Music.

According to the outlet, the actor is shedding pounds to portray a "whimsical, eccentric 70-something year-old" called Chicken Man in Lizard Music.

It is directed by Benny Safdie, marking the reunion of The Rock and the director after their critically acclaimed film The Smashing Machine.

"Benny pitched me this, and after about 45 minutes, this pitch ended and I said, 'I am your Chicken Man," said Dwayne Johnson during a career retrospective talk at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday, as quoted by Variety.

According to the outlet, the actor has shed almost 30 pounds and still believes that he has "long ways to go."

"I'm so excited to get a chance to hopefully transform again like I was able to do in Smashing Machine. It means eating less chicken," Johnson added as quoted by Variety.

The film Lizard Music is an adaptation of a Daniel Pinkwater novel of the same name. It tells the story of a septuagenarian whose best friend is a 70-year-old chicken.

Like The Smashing Machine, which has earned Oscar buzz for Johnson, it's an opportunity to subvert his action hero image.

After starring in blockbusters like Jumanji and Fast Five, Johnson said he was ready to shake things up.

"I felt for a few years that I was pigeonholed because I allowed it to happen," Johnson admitted. He added, "Smashing Machine is for me," as quoted by the outlet.

The sports drama doesn't shy away from showing the darker sides of Kerr's story, including his toxic relationship with his girlfriend (Emily Blunt) and substance abuse struggles, as reported by Variety.

However, fans of the actor's action movies need not be disappointed, as the actor also revealed that he will be teaming up with Kevin Hart on Jumanji 3, which is set to start shooting in November, according to Variety. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)