The star-studded cast of Benny Safdie's new movie, The Smashing Machine, hit the red carpet over the weekend at the Venice Film Festival. This included leads Emily Blunt and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the latter of which debuted a bit of a new look.

Johnson, who rose to fame as a WWE wrestler in the late 90s and early 00s, looked as though he had slimmed down slightly from his signature muscular frame. The Jumanji actor, who plays legendary UFC fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, is still clearly incredibly strong. But the former Miami football player had a more subdued strength as he walked the carpet with Blunt.

At age 53, maintaining the same level of raw strength that we saw in Johnson's WWE career or past action films like San Andreas, Rampage, Skyscraper -- or even The Smashing Machine -- would be wildly difficult. Johnson isn't the first wrestler-turned-actor to trade in muscle volume for a more svelte look.

Dave Bautista, who excelled as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy MCU trilogy and was well known for his muscular build, has also slimmed down as he has progressed through his acting career.

The Smashing Machine has gotten rave reviews early, highlighting Johnson's performance as arguably the best of his career. It releases in theaters on October 3.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Rock debuted a more svelte look for 'The Smashing Machine'

Reporting by Caroline Darney, For The Win / For The Win

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