Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently stunned onlookers at the Venice Film Festival with a noticeable weight loss, a physical transformation that is reportedly for an upcoming film role.
According to Variety, Johnson is shedding pounds to portray a “whimsical, eccentric 70-something year-old” character named Chicken Man in the film “Lizard Music.” The role will reunite him with “The Smashing Machine” director Benny Safdie, a project for which Johnson previously bulked up to play wrestler Mark Kerr.
Johnson, who had already shed much of the 30 pounds of muscle he gained for the role of Kerr, discussed the new challenge during a career retrospective talk at the Toronto Film Festival. “Benny pitched me this after,” he said, “and after about 45 minutes, this pitch ended and I said, ‘I am your Chicken Man.'”
While he still looks like he could bench-press a Humvee, Johnson acknowledged he has “a long ways to go.” He expressed excitement about the chance to “hopefully transform again” for the role, joking that it would require him to eat less chicken.