Film on Transgender Bodybuilder/Powerlifter Janae Kroc in Theaters Oct. 19
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By Bill Geiger, MA
SEE TRAILER BELOW
"Transformer" details the life of an alpha male, the personal struggles, and her transition and acceptance in today's world.
Already critically acclaimed as a breakthrough film dealing with transgender issues, Transformer—the story of former US Marine and professional powerlifter and competitive bodybuilder Matt “Kroc” Kroczaleski and his struggles to come out in a world in which he was considered an alpha male—debuts Oct. 19 in theatres. Now known as Janae Marie, she reveals her lifelong personal and professional battles to accept herself in a testosterone-filled environment of hyper-masculinity.
The film explores Matt’s exceptional athleticism as he set a world record in 2009 as a male powerlifter, benching 738 pounds, squatting 1,003, and deadlifting 810, for a combined 2,551 in the 220-lb. weight class. Extraordinarily strong, Kroc was known for the Kroc row, a variation of the one-arm dumbbell row, done with a 300-pound dumbbell for reps! Kroc’s accomplishments were covered by every major bodybuilding magazine, including MuscleMag (where I served as Group Editorial Director), which included multiple photo features training with Johnnie Jackson.
After coming out, Kroc was featured in Muscle & Fitness, Outsports, and a number of smaller bodybuilding and LGBTQ publications and websites. Transformer is the first documentary film on her life.
Now 45, the Michigan native legally changed names in 2015, and later that year she began estrogen therapy and taking a testosterone blocker. In an interview with T-Nationin 2016, she said, “I started hormones for about a week and then changed my mind again, for a lot of reasons. I was walking away from a lot of stuff I had worked really hard for. That was difficult. And just being who I am with the lifting, being big, muscular, and strong, that was a big part of my identity and it wasn’t an easy thing to just give up.”
Janae had facial feminization surgery in 2017. She also has three children with former wife Patty, a marriage that ended in 2006. All three boys, Janae has said in various media, completely support her. The film also explores Kroc’s evolving relationship with second wife Lauren, whom he had called the love of his life.