The Rock Earns First Golden Globe Nomination For Work In The Smashing Machine

You can add "Golden Globe Nominee" to the list of Hollywood accomplishments The Rock has secured since acting became his full-time gig outside of the WWE and pro wrestling.

It was announced on Monday morning that The Rock was nominated for a Golden Globe thanks to his work in The Smashing Machine. It's his first time being nominated. The Rock played Mark Kerr, the lead character in the movie, and was critically praised for the performance. This nomination is official recognition of that praise.

The Rock joins a who's who of actors in the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama category. Other nominees in the category include:

Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams

Oscar Isaac in Frankenstein

Michael B. Jordan in Sinners

Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent

Jeremy Allen White in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

In addition to The Rock, The Smashing Machine also stars Emily Blunt, who was also nominated for a Golden Globe award in the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role category.

Will The Rock get the victory? The world will find out when the award ceremony takes place on January 11.

The Smashing Machine not a box office success story

Though the film and The Rock were critically praised, the movie was not a success at the box office. It reportedly cost $50 million to make and only brought in nearly half of that.

The Rock spoke about the lack of box office success the movie had, but maintains he was proud of the project and something he did for him.

"Smashing Machine also represents a turning point in my career that I’ve wanted for a long time," The Rock told The Hollywood Reporter. "For the first time in my career — 20 plus years sinceThe Scorpion King came out — I made a film to challenge myself and to really rip myself open and to go elsewhere and disappear and transform. And not one time did I think about box office.”

The Rock has obviously made Hollywood a priority since leaving the full-time WWE grind. However, he has been a figure on WWE programming in 2025. He was infamously part of the John Cena heel turn earlier this year and was seemingly set to factor into that storyline at WrestleMania.

Instead, The Rock has not been seen on WWE television since. In addition to the character he plays on-screen in WWE, The Rock is also a member of the TKO Group Board of Directors.

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