As he shoots his new movie, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has entered a different kind of ring.

The actor, 52, continued to slip deep into character on Friday as he donned a wig and prosthetics to portray MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the A24 biopic The Smashing Machine, which is filming in Vancouver, Canada.

He was unrecognizable wearing Kerr’s dark curly locks over his bald head, paired with a prosthetic nose.

Johnson accessorized with a pair of retro gold aviators while sporting a black Under Armour hoodie for the scene.

The WWE star previously made his debut as the retired mixed martial artist when the first still from the Benny Safdie flick dropped earlier this week.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson continued to slip deep into character on Friday as he donned a wig and prosthetics to portray MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the A24 biopic The Smashing Machine, which is filming in Vancouver, Canada

The Smashing Machine is based on John Hyams’s 2002 HBO documentary of the same name, which also captured Kerr’s (seen in 1997) substance abuse, 1999 hospitalization and rehab stint, in addition to his overall career

He went through a major transformation to play the half-Irish, half-Puerto Rican wrestler, who was in his 20s and 30s in the late 90s and early aughts when he became a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion.

Dwayne was de-aged and transformed by two-time Oscar winner Kazu Hiro, the same prosthetic make-up designer who transformed Bradley Cooper in Maestro (2023), Charlize Theron in Bombshell (2019) and Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour (2017).

Kerr, now 55, has been helping Johnson prepare to play him more authentically by joining him at his MMA training camp where he’s been ‘a total student of the game, absorbing and learning as much as I can, day by day.’

‘[Kerr] is still a f***ing machine, that can close the distance with scary speed and power,’ the Fast X star wrote on Tuesday in a post for his 559.8M Instagram followers.

‘I’ll forever be grateful to the core for his invaluable knowledge he’s been gracious enough to pass onto me and especially for the brotherhood we share. Locking up with Mark, and feeling his press and power – it’s no surprise he was an NCAA, UFC & VALE TUDO Heavyweight Champion.

‘That’s the A side to success. The B side tells a whole other story. Thank you everyone for all your incredible support thru this intense process and journey. Production begins filming this week.’

Principal photography officially began Tuesday and the movie will shoot in Vancouver, Los Angeles, New Mexico, and Tokyo.

Dwayne has had five months of training since he signed on to produce and star in The Smashing Machine, which marks Safdie’s solo feature directorial debut.

The new still also included a first look at Oscar nominee Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples, an Arizona-based recovering alcoholic who wed Mark in Las Vegas during their sometimes violent romance.

Johnson on set Friday (left), Johnson pictured in April 2024 (right)

Johnson was unrecognizable wearing Kerr’s dark curly locks over his bald head, paired with a prosthetic nose

The WWE star previously made his debut as the retired mixed martial artist when the first still from the Benny Safdie flick dropped earlier this week

Kerr, now 55, has been helping Johnson prepare to play him more authentically by joining him at his MMA training camp where he’s been ‘a total student of the game, absorbing and learning as much as I can, day by day’

Johnson and Blunt, 41, previously starred together in 2021’s Jungle Cruise.

The Smashing Machine – also starring Lyndsey Gavin, Oleksandr Usyk, and Ryan Bader – is based on John Hyams’s 2002 HBO documentary of the same name, which also captured Kerr’s substance abuse, 1999 hospitalization and rehab stint, in addition to his overall career.

But first, the Young Rock co-creator produces and stars as Callum Drift in Jake Kasdan’s $250M-budget Christmas action flick Red One – hitting US/UK theaters November 15 – alongside Chris Evans, JK Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, Nick Kroll, and Bonnie Hunt.

Johnson will then reprise his voiceover role as Maui in David G. Derrick Jr.’s Disney sequel Moana 2, which hits US theaters November 27.