LOS ANGELES — Dwayne Johnson has traded his muscular appearance for the look of a 70-year-old man in his latest film transformation, taking on the role of the Chicken Man in Lizard Music.
Johnson was seen in Brooklyn on Tuesday filming the upcoming movie, directed by Benny Safdie. Similar to his work with Safdie on The Smashing Machine in 2025, the actor has undergone a significant transformation using prosthetics. While his previous role required him to portray a powerful mixed martial arts fighter, his latest character is an elderly man known as the Chicken Man.
In photos from the set, Johnson wears a tan bucket hat and coat while carrying a slice of pizza. He walks beside his young co-star Theo Clark Leber, who is seen holding an oversized plush lizard. The actor’s new appearance was created by prosthetics artist Kazu Hiro, who recently transformed Tom Cruise into an elderly oil baron for Digger.
Based on Daniel Pinkwater’s children’s book of the same name, Lizard Music centers on a young boy who “stumbles upon strange lizard musicians on late-night TV, leading him to befriend a peculiar man with an elderly chicken,” according to the film’s official logline.
The movie also features Rachel McAdams, Colman Domingo, David Krumholtz, Jeff Goldblum, Alicia Silverstone and Regina Hall.
Produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Lizard Music is scheduled for release on Christmas Day 2027.
Speaking during a career retrospective at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival, Johnson explained that agreeing to join the project was an easy decision. He said Safdie needed only “about 45 minutes” to convince him to take the role.
Johnson also disclosed that he lost 30 pounds of muscle to portray the Chicken Man, highlighting the physical changes he made for the character.
“I’m so excited to get a chance to hopefully transform again like I was able to do in ‘Smashing Machine,’” Johnson said. “[It means] eating less chicken.”
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