Dwayne Johnson has broken his silence on his recent weight loss, explaining that the transformation is for an upcoming role in the film Lizard Music. Speaking at a panel during the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, the 53-year-old actor said he has been slimming down to play a 'whimsical and eccentric 70-something-year-old man called the Chicken Man'.
The film, directed by Benny Safdie, is based on a novel by Daniel Pinkwater. Johnson revealed that Safdie sold him on the pitch in under an hour, prompting him to say, 'I am your Chicken Man.' He joked that he was eating 'less chicken' to shed the pounds and noted, 'This is me slimmed down. In the process of slimming down. I still have a long way to go.'
Johnson's career has recently shifted towards more serious roles, as seen in The Smashing Machine, where he played MMA legend Mark Kerr. He explained at the Venice Film Festival that he wanted to do more than the action blockbusters that had pigeon-holed him. 'I looked around a few years ago and I started to think...am I living my dream, or am I living other people's dreams?' he said.
While no release date for Lizard Music has been announced, The Smashing Machine is set to hit theatres on October 3.
