Steve Carrier on September 8, 2025
Fans were stunned last week when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared at the Venice Film Festival with a drastically slimmed-down physique. Speculation ran wild, but now the former WWE star and TKO Board member is setting the record straight—and the reason is as unexpected as it gets.
While attending the Toronto Film Festival on Monday, Johnson explained that his recent transformation is for an offbeat role in an upcoming film titled Lizard Music. He’ll be playing Chicken Man, a whimsical and eccentric 70-something-year-old who befriends a chicken.
The role is a far cry from his usual action-packed characters, and it demanded a complete physical reset.
“I have lost much of the 30 pounds of muscle” Johnson said via Variety, referring to the bulk he added for his role as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine.
The new film is directed by Benny Safdie, who also worked with Johnson on The Smashing Machine. According to Johnson, the two had a long conversation about the strange new character before he fully embraced it.
“I am your Chicken Man,” Johnson told Safdie after a 45-minute pitch.
Lizard Music is based on a novel by Daniel Pinkwater, where the main character is a septuagenarian whose closest companion is a 70-year-old chicken. It’s unclear when filming will begin, but Johnson’s schedule remains packed—he’ll also team up with Kevin Hart for Jumanji 3 starting this November.
Fans curious to see the physique Johnson shed for this new role can still catch him as a shredded Mark Kerr when The Smashing Machine hits theaters on Friday, October 3.
Are you surprised The Rock slimmed down for a role like Chicken Man? Would you rather see him in more unusual films or stick to action? Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think.
September 8, 2025 5:43 pm
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