A “Smashing” chat with Benny Safdie
The Business
KCRW
4.5 • 697 Ratings
🗓️ 3 October 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Kim Masters talks with Benny Safdie about The Smashing Machine, his first solo feature since parting ways with his longtime creative partner (and brother) Josh. He recalls the immediate spark he felt when Dwayne Johnson approached him to play UFC fighter Mark Kerr, and why the story fits his ongoing fascination with characters who don’t quite win. He also reflects on his biggest lessons gleaned while working as an actor for luminary filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan.
Speaking of Anderson, the director just scored a career high opening weekend with One Battle After Another. The film has earned universal acclaim among critics and an “A” CinemaScore, but with a reported budget of $140–160 million Warner Bros. faces a steep climb to profitability. After a run of surprise hits at the studio, does One Battle After Another carry more value as an awards contender and an “auteur-friendly” statement piece for CEO David Zaslav? Kim Masters and her partner in banter Matt Belloni investigate.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From KCRW, I'm Kim Masters, and this is the business. |
| 0:05.1 | The Safty brothers, Benny and Josh, got some awards attention for their Adam Sandler film Uncut Gems. |
| 0:11.1 | But now they've split up and Benny Safdi says the reunion is not in the cards. |
| 0:15.6 | There's a rule that once you separate as partners, you can't come back together. |
| 0:19.6 | It's a DGA rule. |
| 0:21.2 | But it's like, okay, I'm going to take that rule and I'm going to say, okay, fine. I have certain things that I want to look at and he has certain things that he wants to look at. And we're both going to try and do that. Benny Safty joins me to talk about his first solo feature, the Smashing Machine. He recalls the instant connection he felt when Dwayne Johnson approached him with the |
| 0:39.8 | life rights of Mark Kerr, a troubled fighter from the early days of the UFC. |
| 0:44.7 | And Safdi explains why the story fits in with his previous explorations of characters who are |
| 0:49.6 | not exactly winners. |
| 0:51.5 | He also shares his biggest takeaways as an actor on the sets of Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan films. But first we banter. Stick around. It's the business from KCRW. I am joined by my partner in banter. Matt Bellany. Hello, Matt. Hi there. So let's check in at the recent box office and the box |
| 1:12.4 | office to come. One battle after another. Now, that is a very expensive movie from Paul Thomas |
| 1:18.0 | Anderson, as has become sort of a running line in Hollywood. The Mike DeLuca, Pam Abdi regime at |
| 1:25.9 | Warner's has been on this amazing run where risky movies, |
| 1:30.5 | original movies, like notably sinners, were greenlighted by them. A lot of people in the town |
| 1:35.6 | were like, that's crazy, you don't make that deal. And these movies have worked. Weapons was another |
| 1:41.6 | one, the most recent iteration of The Conjuring. Everything has worked. A lot of people |
| 1:46.9 | were looking at one battle after another and saying, well, this is going to be the real disaster |
| 1:51.2 | because it costs, I don't know, somewhere between 140 and 160, let's say, and Paul Thomas |
| 1:55.9 | Anderson has never had a big gross. And now opened to 22 million domestically. |
| 2:01.1 | Go. |
| 2:04.0 | Yeah, and 48 million worldwide. |
| 2:07.6 | And this is the problem with these kinds of movies. |
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