The Rock Reflects On Missing Out On Oscar Nomination For The Smashing Machine

The Rock recently shared his thoughts on missing out on an Oscar nomination despite awards buzz for his work in The Smashing Machine. The actor and WWE star received a lot of talk about his performance as former UFC star Mark Hunt in the Benny Safdie-directed biopic. However, while he and Emily Blunt received Golden Globe nominations for their performances, the film only earned a nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Final Boss was asked about how he feels about the matter a year after the situation. He noted that while he never thought it didn’t matter, it just lit a fire for him to get back into that conversation.

“It would have been incredible to get nominated for an Oscar,” Rock said. “I realized very quickly that it’s a rare thing to reach this pinnacle where you’re even having these conversations. And it’s exciting! It would have been amazing.”

He continued, “I wish it happened. But it didn’t. But in no uncertain terms did I ever think, Oh, that doesn’t matter. I always thought it mattered. And it has lit a fire in my spine [laughs] which is: Let’s go back to work.”

The Rock is next set to apepar on the big screen in the live-action Moana film in July, reprising his role as Maui from the animated movie. He will also star in Jumanji: Open World which releases on December 25th.