Dwayne Johnson Unrecognizable on Set of Benny Safdie's Lizard Music
Dwayne Johnson is nearly unrecognizable on the Brooklyn set of Benny Safdie's Lizard Music, shedding 23 kilograms to play an elderly man alongside a star-studded cast.
Dwayne Johnson has once again proven his dedication to complete physical transformations for the screen. After gaining around 14 kilograms to portray MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine (2025), the star has undergone the exact opposite transformation for his upcoming project, Lizard Music.
A Dramatic Transformation in Brooklyn
Filming has officially begun in Brooklyn for the new movie directed by Benny Safdie. Johnson stars as the Chicken Man, a man in his seventies, and was spotted on set looking nearly unrecognizable with grey hair, facial wrinkles, a bucket hat, and a light brown jacket. In the scene, he was seen holding a slice of pizza alongside young actor Theo Clarke-Laver, who carried a large lizard puppet. Award-winning makeup artist Kazu Hiro, known for transforming Tom Cruise into an elderly oil tycoon, is responsible for Johnson's aging prosthetics.
An Exciting Collaboration
This marks another collaboration between Johnson and Safdie following The Smashing Machine. Based on the children's book by Daniel Pinkwater, Lizard Music follows a boy who discovers unusual lizard musicians on late-night television and befriends a mysterious man raising an elderly chicken. The star-studded cast also features Rachel McAdams, Colman Domingo, David Krumholtz, Jeff Goldblum, Alicia Silverstone, and Regina Hall. Produced by Amazon, the film is slated for a Christmas 2027 release.
