Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson felt 'pigeonholed' by action roles

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is looking to expand his acting resume with different roles.

While promoting his new film, “The Smashing Machine” at The Venice Film Festival this week, Johnson talked about feeling “pigeonholed” into certain roles.

"I just had this burning desire and this voice that was saying, 'Well, again, what if?'" he said, per Entertainment Weekly. “But what if there is more and what if I can? And a lot of times it's harder for us to, or at least for me, to know what you're capable of when you've been pigeonholed into something."

In “The Smashing Machine,” Johnson stars as Mark Kerr, the legendary two-time UFC heavyweight champion and MMA icon, who succeeded in the ring but battled painkiller addiction in the 1990s.

Early reviews have praised Johnson’s dramatic turn, a change from his comedy and action roles in films like “The Fast and the Furious” franchise and “Jumanji.”

"When you're in Hollywood, as we all know, it had become about box office and you chase the box office," Johnson said. "And the box office in our business that we know is very loud and it can be very resounding, and it could push you into a category and into a corner. And 'This is your lane' and 'This is what you do' and 'This is what people want you to be' and 'This is what Hollywood wants you to be.'"

Reflecting on his feelings about his career, Johnson said, "I liked them, and they were fun and some were really good and did well, and some not so good."

Johnson continued, clarifying the he doesn’t have anything in particular to prove in Hollywood, but began wondering, ‘'Am I living my dream or am I living other people's dreams?'"

He decided, "You could either fall in line and go, 'Well, it's status quo. Things are good. I don't want to rock the boat.’ Or go, 'No, I want to live my dreams now and do what I want to do and tap into the stuff that I want to tap into.' I have a place finally to put all this stuff that I've experienced in the past that I've shied away from, been scared to go deep and intense and raw until now, until I had this opportunity to do this."

“The Smashing Machine” will be in theaters October 3.