Benny Safdie On Bringing ‘The Smashing Machine’ To The Big Screen

If the name Benny Safdie does not mean much to you yet, it definitely will now. From Good Time, Uncut Gems and Academy Award “Best Picture” winner Oppenheimer, Safdie, 39, has attached himself to several films lately that have been quite favorable with critics and everyday moviegoers alike.

Now, the New York-born actor, director, screenwriter and editor brings arguably his most daring and intimate story to the big screen with A24’s The Smashing Machine. Now playing in theaters, this true story stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt playing MMA fighter Mark Kerr and his girlfriend Dawn Staples, as they navigate love, emotional setbacks and realizing what are the real wins in life.

Safdie directed, wrote and produced The Smashing Machine alongside Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions company. He was inspired to tell Kerr’s story after seeing the 2002 documentary, The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.

He said of the real life Kerr, “Just being such a vulnerable, soft-spoken, but at the same time, this like machine who could go in there and just destroy somebody in five seconds. There was this element of this guy who was so complicated in a way. He had such a deep friendship with all the fighters around him – and then yet, they go in the ring and they beat each other up, you know? There’s an element that I just was really drawn to.”

Safdie also noticed similarities early on between Kerr and Johnson, saying of the former WWE superstar and current Hollywood leading man, “He’s like this big guy who’s seemingly invincible, but also has a very fragile inside, too. There are things that he has felt and he has experienced that he wants to also explore. I was just like – Oh wow, there’s this weird combination of people that we shouldn’t be able to relate to one another, but we are – and I need to explore that.”

Being a narrative that shines a light on the many struggles within the very physically demanding sport of wrestling and the substance abuse that Kerr ultimately experienced to try to manage his pain, Safdie recalls his initial conversations with Kerr, to ensure that this The Smashing Machine story would be told accurately and unapologetically.

“I said to him right away, I was like – Look, I’m just going to tell you everything about myself in my life, because if you’re going to let me tell your story, you should know everything about me. It’s only fair. Right off the bat, I’m setting that table. We’re going to be talking about things that are hard, but at the same time, he has come to such a place in his life where he is able to understand the mistakes he has made and just be sorry, full stop. I thought that’s really special.”

Safdie went on to say that he wanted to make a film about the process of understanding who you are and maybe where you should be – unafraid to have the uncomfortable conversations with Kerr to tell this The Smashing Machine story right, with the hopes of having moviegoers “feel the things.”

As for getting Blunt to sign-on to play Dawn, Safdie recalls his time acting alongside her in Oppenheimer and seeing what she is capable of, which always kept her in the back of his mind for this role. Also knowing that Johnson and Blunt have a history of working together on-screen, previously with Jungle Cruise, Safdie says that he “knew that in order to achieve certain things in this movie, specifically with regards to this relationship, you need to feel a level of like deep love and friendship there. They are such good friends who really root for one another. I knew that was going to have some effect and that they were going to trust one another to go to these places.”

As for the professional benefits of having both an acting and directing background, Safdie said, “I think it inherently, like the two things, makes me better at the other. Everybody’s like – Oh, which do you prefer? I’m like – Well, this makes me better at that, and that makes me better at this. They work together.”

With moviegoers able to now experience The Smashing Machine story up on the big screen, what exactly are Safdie’s greatest hopes that moviegoers will take away from seeing the lives of Mark and Dawn play out in front of them?

Safdie said, “I want them to feel good, leaving the theater. Yes, emotionally like complicated and filled up in a way. Life is okay. If this guy can go through all that stuff and be okay, like that’s the greatest thing in the world. Optimism or empathy – just take that out into your own every day. The person who’s next to you, you don’t know what’s going on, so just give them the benefit of the doubt. I think we need that even now these days, with everything going on.”