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There was a marked shift after The Smashing Machine premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September. Its star, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, suddenly appeared less like a blockbuster action hero and more like an Academy Awards contender.
The film, which follows UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr, was met with an emotional 15-minute standing ovation. Critics were stunned by Johnson’s physical transformation, as well as his raw, emotional performance. It was a refreshing change for someone previously known for big-budget, largely mindless “popcorn films” such as Jumanji, Baywatch and Jungle Cruise.
“I’m at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I’ve not pushed myself in the past,” Johnson told Variety in 2024. “I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain.”
Everyone at Venice stared on in wonder. Could The Rock successfully pivot to prestige cinema?
Apparently not, according to the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Despite earning a Golden Globe nomination this year, Johnson was shut out of the Oscars.
He wasn’t alone. Adam Sandler – known for box-office favourites like Grown Ups and Happy Gilmore – also failed to secure a nod, despite delivering one of his best performances in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, and receiving shining endorsement from his co-star, Oscar-winner George Clooney.
“This film – more than any film Adam has done – shows what a beautiful, heartfelt, soulful actor he is,” Clooney told Vanity Fair in August. “I kept telling the cast, don’t call him ‘Sandman’. Don’t talk to him like he’s just some goofy comedian. He’s actually a really beautiful, wonderful actor.”
Sandler has come close before with Punch-Drunk Love and Hustle, which earned him nominations at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards (now the Actor Awards) respectively. But arguably his biggest snub was for his role in the chaotic crime-thriller Uncut Gems, which failed to get awards traction despite major buzz.
Jennifer Lopez, whose turn as Ingrid Luna in Kiss of the Spider Woman was deemed “dazzling” by critics, was also shut out. It seems her turn in “less serious” films like Marry Me and Maid in Manhattan continue to supersede her sublime performances in dramas like Selena, Hustlers and now Kiss of the Spider Woman.
There appears to be a trend here. Stars looking to swap their “blockbuster” labels for more serious dramatic fare are struggling to stick the landing. It’s certainly not for lack of talent – shining reviews for Johnson, Sandler and Lopez speak for themselves. So, what’s going on here?
Even with transformative roles, the academy has been historically slow to reward stars synonymous with action, romcoms or broad comedy. Take Jim Carrey. He was one of the most recognisable celebrities throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, starring in huge commercial successes like Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty. His pivot to more dramatic, thought-provoking material (The Truman Show, Man on the Moon) won him two Golden Globes, but he never received an Oscar nomination.
Similar could be said of Jennifer Aniston, who clearly failed to convince the academy she could move beyond Rachel from popular sitcom Friends, even after delivering complex, nuanced performances in Cake and The Good Girl.
For Johnson – a certified action star, thanks to the Fast & Furious franchise – featuring in The Smashing Machine wasn’t enough to shed his blockbuster persona, especially among traditional academy voters. Perhaps his pivot to an indie drama was considered an “anomaly” and therefore not as deserving of recognition – at least not yet.
There’s also a broader trend, in which critically lauded films that underperform at the box office struggle to maintain momentum. The Smashing Machine only grossed $29.2 million worldwide, while Kiss of the Spider Woman fared even worse with $2.4 million. As a Netflix film, Jay Kelly went straight to streaming after a limited theatrical release.
A weak box office suggests few people saw the film, meaning even fewer will be chatting about it come Oscar nominations. Just look at The Thing (1982) and Zodiac (2007), both incredible films with wonderful leads (Kurt Russell and Jake Gyllenhaal respectively). Smaller box office earnings led to lower Oscars visibility. Awards season is all about buzz, after all.
This was also a particularly tough season, especially for films released earlier in the year (Kiss of the Spider Woman debuted at Sundance in January 2025). They fell victim to an overcrowded slate of heavyweight competition, with titles like One Battle After Another and Sinners (and their respective stars) dominating most categories. Sinners even broke the record for most Oscar nods ever (16). Beyond these frontrunners, more recent indie hits like Marty Supreme and Hamnet clearly stuck with voters until nominations closed.
There is one “popcorn star”, however, who has beaten these odds. Kate Hudson, a romcom favourite thanks to the likes of Bride Wars and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, scored a nomination for best supporting actress for her turn in Song Sung Blue, placing her in the running alongside heavy hitters Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Emma Stone (Bugonia) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value).
While she seems like an outlier, there’s a key difference. Hudson isn’t new to the Oscars, having been nominated for best supporting actress in 2001 for Almost Famous. The academy loves a “comeback” story – just look at Robert Downey Jr, who won an Oscar last year for Oppenheimer and whose late-1990s drug problems derailed his career until Iron Man came along in 2008. Or at actors who have “returned to form” – Brendan Fraser had everyone in tears after winning an Oscar for The Whale, after years in the high-profile acting wilderness. It seems the academy is willing to “rediscover” actors stuck in the blockbuster cycle but it’s less favourable of stars trying to “break into” the prestige circle.
That’s not to say popcorn stars have never successfully broken in. Just last year, Demi Moore, known as one of the ’80s “brat pack”, came close to winning best actress for her remarkable performance in The Substance.
Long before that, in 1997, Robin Williams went from family-film sweetheart to Oscar winner after Good Will Hunting, and comedy king Eddie Murphy convinced voters to award him an Oscar nomination for Dreamgirls in 2007. More recently, Kristen Stewart went from Twilight star to Oscar nominee in 2022 with Spencer.
Will Johnson, Sandler and Lopez eventually be permitted into Hollywood’s hallowed halls? Perhaps. But if history teaches us anything, it’s that the prestige pivot often requires patience.
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