From mat to screen isn't a big leap for Cena
It would be easy to dismiss professional wrestler John Cena as brainless beefcake. But that doesn't fairly describe the West Newbury native. Sure, the 31-year-old Cena is among the heavyweights of
We sat down with Cena during his recent visit to Boston.
Q. What's a kid from West Newbury doing with a career like yours?
A. I guess luck is the first thing, and then prepared for opportunity.
Q. What does that mean? As a kid, I know you used to stage strange wrestling matches at your house.
A. I wouldn't necessarily call them strange. Just kids being kids. I grew up in a house of five brothers. And [the matches] probably happened between the ages of 6 and 12. My father was always a huge sports and entertainment fan. He'd watch professional wrestling all the time, and we'd watch it with him. Instead of having a catch with my dad, it would be us sitting around the TV watching wrestling.
Q. Like who? What generation of wrestlers?
A. My dad was one of the first in our region to buy cable, so we'd get all the affiliates: The old WWF, which was Captain Lou Albano and Hulk Hogan. He'd get AWA, which was the Baron Von Raschkes and the Gagnes. He'd get World Class Wrestling Championship, which was the Fritz Von Erichs and the Freebirds. He'd get NWA, which was the Four Horsemen and Dusty Rhodes. We got everything, even got the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
Q. You're really steeped in this stuff.
A. Yeah, and it was really cool. These were human superheroes on TV fighting for good . . . or bad. We'd emulate the heroes we'd see on TV, and the old man being there with us made it OK.
Q. Talk to me about the transition from wrestling to acting.
A. I wouldn't necessarily call it a transition. It's an expansion.
Q. How has wrestling prepared you for acting?
A. If anything, it's taught me patience. The two forms of entertainment are very different. Sports entertainment is very broad. It's similar to the differences between Broadway and cinema. When you're wrestling, you're playing to a live audience. When you're filming a movie, you play to a 60-foot screen so very minute movements can mean so much. It's a lot less animated and more meaningful.
Q. Doesn't it get a little tedious?
A. Like I said, it's taught me patience.
Q. There's a lot of action in "12 Rounds" . . .
A. Yeah, but it's really interesting action - not just guy walks into a bar and picks fight with everybody and a barroom brawl ensues. There's really some physical and mental challenges. Also, what's fascinating about the action in the movie is the setting. You know it's New Orleans without having Mardi Gras shoved down your throat. You see a lot of different faces and unique places.
Q. How's the city doing?
A. Fantastic. There are areas that still need help - a lot of the lower-income areas were the least helped - but it's certainly a thriving tourist atmosphere again.
Q. Do you have role models in the movie business? Are there actors whose careers you admire?
A. You know what, I really do respect anyone who's managed to make a lifelong career of this. There's something to be said for being more than, for lack of a better term, a one-hit wonder. If you have longevity and are entertaining, you deserve the respect of your peers.
Q. Your character in the movie is very un-superhero.
A. Which I like. The John McClane character in the "Die Hard" series is very closely related to Danny Fisher. He's an ordinary guy under an extreme set of circumstances.
Q. Is it merely a coincidence that Renny Harlin directs "12 Rounds"?
A. He did do "Die Hard 2." I think he brought expertise to the film. He helped me to not be such a superhero because that's what "The Marine" was like and I also play superhero every Monday on "Raw." It was good to have him bring me back down to earth.
Q. How physically taxing were the stunts? I mean, you're a pro wrestler.
A. I'm a sports entertainer and I have about 250 matches a year, but when those matches happen they happen. There are no second takes. It's all live. When you walk on set for a day of stunts, that's 12 hours of stunts. At the end of the day, you're dragging-ass tired. You've been through a day of getting your ass whipped. And if you're doing a week of stunts, you're a shell of a man by the end.
Q. Did you see "The Wrestler"?
A. I did.
Q. And?
A. I thought it was a great movie. It's the story of a guy who's had some success. He made it to the mountaintop. But he just can't let the career go. What's great about the movie is it showcases specific moments where the guy makes legitimate bad decisions: He has a paying job, he throws it away; he has a chance to reconcile with his daughter, he throws it away; he has a chance to win the girl, he throws that away.
Q. But he gets the girl who likes firemen.
A. [Laughs] Yes, he does. For one night, he gets to be a fireman.
Q. What did you think of Mickey Rourke's performance?
A. Fantastic. It takes you on a roller-coaster ride of feeling. You want to say, "What the [expletive] are you doing? The right choice is right in front of you." That's the story that needed to be told.
Q. Did the movie do anything, good or bad, for wrestling?
A. I think it's been positive. It shows the camaraderie that exists among our fraternity. There's a very competitive aspect to what we do, but there's also a sense that we're all going through this together, and we need to look out for each other.
Q. Finally, what about music? Your 2005 rap CD "You Can't See Me" sold very well.
A. It did. I still do hip-hop - I did a track with Snoop Dogg not too long ago - but I have a different focus these days. I've fallen in love with country music. . . . The old guys: Hank Williams, Hank Jr., Hank Williams III, Willie, Waylon, Johnny Cash, all of them. 