20 Actors Who Just Had Awesome Comebacks

16. Dwayne Johnson

There's no denying that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has had one hell of a successful transition from wrestling superstar to bonafide Hollywood behemoth, at least in terms of box office receipts.

Yet Johnson's almost 25-year acting career has afforded him few opportunities to flex his dramatic muscles, and in recent years in particular he's appeared in a glut of unremarkable blockbuster projects - most of all Red Notice, Black Adam, and Red One.

But Johnson did himself a huge solid with his most recent project, Benny Safdie's biopic of former MMA fighter Mark Kerr - The Smashing Machine

While it might not seem like a massive stretch to have Johnson portray a combat sports fighter, The Smashing Machine asks him to go to some deeply dark places as a performer, far darker in fact than many likely believed him capable of.

But Johnson acquitted himself extremely well here with a complex portrait of a tragic, fascinating figure who helped pioneer what is now a global mega-sport.

Johnson's buzzed-about turn will probably miss out on an Oscar nomination, but it's still a huge feather in his cap to defy the nay-sayers and prove what he can deliver when a project actually asks him to do more.