Dwayne Johnson is reflecting on how he feels about not getting an Oscar nomination for his performance in the A24 film The Smashing Machine.
Dwayne, 54, received some awards buzz in 2025 for the film, directed by Benny Safdie, but ultimately did not get a Best Actor nom at the Academy Awards.
“It would have been incredible to get nominated for an Oscar,” he told Esquire in a newly released interview. “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. I wish it happened. But it didn’t.”
The Jumanji star made it clear that he values what it would mean to receive an Academy Award nomination, sharing that there was never a moment where he thought, “Oh, that doesn’t matter.”
He continued, “I always thought it mattered. And it has lit a fire in my spine…which is: Let’s go back to work.”
Even though he didn’t get Oscar recognition, Dwayne did receive a Best Actor nom at the Golden Globes.
He also has several high-profile projects in the works, like a new Hawaii-set crime drama with Martin Scorsese that will star Leonardo DiCaprio and Dwayne‘s Smashing Machine co-star Emily Blunt.
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