Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is "not a big therapy guy"

He told The Guardian newspaper: "I've been in this space for years where I wanted to do more.

"I wanted to not only challenge myself but to listen to my gut. To really rip myself open. And, quite honestly, I was scared.

"I'm not a big therapy guy. I've had some great conversations with therapists but it's not the thing I run to. I bottle s*** up inside me, like a lot of guys, which I recognise is not the healthiest thing to do.

"Then I said: Wait, I can still do the thing I love, which is acting. But what if there's something deeper and more meaningful in it for me?"

The Moana star found what he was looking for with his latest role, playing real life troubled MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine and he admitted he could see some similarities between himself and his character.

He explained: "It's the challenge of having to live up to an image. I can empathise with Mark in that. There's this image of you and, as it forms, people keep piling s*** on, 'You can do it. Now do it like this. And here's more, and more. Now come over here and do this thing, and that thing.' "

The former wrestler found the role freeing because he hasn't felt the pressure of striving for box office success.

He said: "You know, I'll share this with you.

"This is the first time in my career that I've not thought about box office once. And I like that. I appreciate it. With the other films, the big ones, the four-quadrant movies, it's pressurised.

"Sure, I love making the Jumanjis and Moanas. But there's something so freeing about this process. We want this movie to open well and hope a lot of people like it. But for that not to be the thing ... What a difference."

And the Jumanji actor admitted he is much less nervous than usual ahead of The Smashing Machine's release.

He said: "It's a scary time because so much effort and money goes into the opening weekend here in the States. Then it's: 'How will it hold up? What will it do internationally? Maybe we should change that scene because it'd play better in Asia ...' I make all these big movies, and some have been really good and some not so good at all. But this was one for me."