Not many actors voluntarily take punches to the face.But that is what Dwayane Johsnon did during filming of his upcoming film The Smashing Machine.Johnson revealed he told his scene partner exactly where and where not to him@MMAJunkieThe movie hits the box office on Oct. 3 and is a retelling of an early 2000s documentary on UFC Hall of Famer Mark Kerr.Several stars have taken part in this film, with Bellator champion Ryan Bader featuring alongside the undisputed heavyweight boxing king Oleksandr UsykJohnson plays Kerr in the film and has received glowing reviews from those who have watched the movie ahead of the release date.Dwayane Johnson took real punches in The Smashing Machine movieThat could be the result of Johnson’s commitment to the role, which included taking real punches in the fight scene.In an interview with MMA Junkie, Johnson, who was seen crying after an ovation at the Venice Film Festival due to his performance in the film, revealed how he wanted the fight scenes to be authentic. “It felt like when you get rocked by a real fighter, multiple times,” Johnson said.“Then there’s a moment in the trailer where I’m on my knees and I look up and I look dazed – that’s real. I got my bell rung and Benny was like, ‘Hold on, stay there.’ I was seeing three heads of Benny Safdie and 15 heads of Mark Kerr at that time. “To bring it back to authenticity, Mark is the one who experienced this loss where he couldn’t move in the ring and he was getting rocked. “What’s so moving about that, and when you see it in the documentary, one when you pull it up and see his fights on YouTube, is that as Mark is getting rocked in that moment, his eyes are open – he’s with it.“He’s not knocked out, he’s getting his bell rung, he’s getting kneed in the guts and in the rib cage, but he’s not quitting and he’s not tapping.”Johnson has been doing a press tour amid the release of The Smashing MachineGETTYHeavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk also features in the movieGETTYJohnson was urged not to take real hitsJohnson, who went under an intense body transformation for the film, also spoke about how his co-workers tried to convince him not to take real hits.“Benny said, ‘I would never love to never cut away from you in these fights. We have a great stunt double. We have two. I’d love to just use you.’ And I know what that meant,” Johnson said. “So at the end in that scene, we just had to tell our scene partner, who is a fighter, and I said to him, ‘Hey brother, you’re pulling your punches. You’ve got to lay it in and you’ve got to hit me.’ He goes, ‘What do you mean?’“I said, ‘Benny’s not cutting away, this is the end of the movie. You know this really happened to Mark. You have to lay it in. Just don’t hit me here, you’ll break my jaw. Don’t hit me in my temple, you’ll kill me. But you can hit me here in the cheek bone.’ “He said, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ I said, ‘I need you to hit me.’ He goes, ‘I respect you, I’m not going to do that.’ “I asked Benny to come over and Benny had asked him and he goes, ‘You have to hit him because I’m not cutting away.'” Critics praise the film The Smashing Machine Early reviews have heaped praise on the movie so far, with Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman describing his performance as ‘a revelation’.“He seems like a new actor,” Gleiberman added.On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 75%, which is generally seen as a really good rating.One top critic on the website singled out Johnson for his performance. “Johnson is probably the only actor alive who could play Kerr convincingly: his colossal, sculpted bulk fills the screen, and…his towering appearance,” the user wrote.