Vin Diesel Celebrates Fast & Furious Co-Star The Rock for His Performance in The Smashing Machine

In a post on Instagram, Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel had glowing praise for his franchise co-star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, crediting the fellow thespian for his performance in The Smashing Machine. Diesel has worked with both The Rock, along with Mark Kerr, who The Rock portrays in the film.

Per Diesel, Kerr was his trainer for XXX. He wrote in his Instagram post, “One of the greatest gifts in life isn’t something you can buy, it’s the relationships forged along the way. I wanted to take a moment to talk about The Smashing Machine.”

Diesel also explained his past his relationship with former MMA fighter Mark Kerr. He continued, “What most people don’t realize is that Mark Kerr was one of the first friends I made when I moved from New York to California. We hit it off immediately, and the reason is simple: he is genuinely one of the kindest, most warm-hearted people you will ever meet. He actually trained me for the first XXX, so in a beautiful way, he was there at the beginning of my action career. That’s the kind of friend he’s been from day one.”

Vin Diesel also celebrated The Rock’s performance as Kerr in the movie. He added:

And let me celebrate Dwayne. People don’t understand what it takes to uphold a global perception every single day. I remember asking our global family who they’d love to see me work with, and a woman named Jan left a comment saying her dream was for me to collaborate with Dwayne. What followed became one of the most dynamic pairings in cinema, two strong personalities who pushed each other and created something unforgettable. When he stepped into Hobbs, he did it with full commitment and left an indelible mark on Universal’s character hall of fame.

Speaking of hall of fame… watching Mark Kerr get inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame because his story was finally told was such a proud moment. This is a man who would often tell me about the kids he was teaching to wrestle, to fight, to take ownership of their lives usually for no money at all.
The fact that Mark Coleman was included in the film was such a treat, and Bas Rutten’s performance was stellar.
Mark Kerr is so deserving of this moment… and Dwayne really did it… He brought us back in time and shined doing it.

Proud of you both.

The Rock is currently working on a new, still-untitled sequel to the Jumanji franchise, where he reunites with fellow franchise stars Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan. It’s due out in theaters on December 11, 2026.

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