Benny Safdie did not want to use visual effects and preferred to limit the use of stunt doubles in The Smashing Machine. Verisimilitude, after all, is a central idea turned over in all of his work. He ...

Writer/director Benny Safdie also explains why he changed or left out key moments from Kerr's life and career in the A24 biopic, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.