- 7/8/2025
"This is the one thing we couldn't wing out there." John Cena takes a walk down memory lane as he rewatches scenes from his classic works including 'Wrestlemania,' 'Trainwreck,' 'Peacemaker,' 'F9: The Fast Saga,' 'Barbie,' 'Heads of State,' 'Ready to Rumble' and more.HEADS OF STATE is now available Globally on Prime Video, http://bit.ly/WatchMorePrimeVideo
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00:00You would think that, like, man, going to the actual stage is going to be the worst part.
00:04That was the easy part.
00:05Here's some inside Vanity Fair stuff.
00:07I knew I was losing the year before the fight, and that is, like, breaking news here now.
00:14Oh, hello there.
00:15I'm John Cena.
00:16You may know me from such things as being John Cena.
00:20Today, the good folks at Vanity Fair have given me a pocket of time to reflect on the
00:25works of me trying my best to entertain you.
00:28Shall we start?
00:29Let's do that.
00:30This newfangled remote should start our journey.
00:34Let's go.
00:51So this is WrestleMania 28 in Miami.
00:54John Cena versus Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
00:56Once in a lifetime.
00:57Although we did it again the next year.
00:59This was a wonderful journey to get to this.
01:04Lots of live moments before this WrestleMania.
01:09In sports entertainment, sometimes we do toe the gray area between entertainment and realism.
01:16And I think that's a lot of the cachet that WWE and sports entertainment has.
01:21Everyone who shows up knows it's entertainment.
01:24But still, here we are in Miami with 80,000-plus people showing up for this live Shakespearean drama to unfold in front of their very eyes.
01:33What was special about this is a lot of the moments along the way cross the lines of, hey, I know this is sports entertainment, but man, those guys really hate each other.
01:43That brought us to a wonderful moment that we're seeing now.
01:47When I look back on WWE events, everyone looks at the ring.
01:54I always look beyond the ring.
01:56And right now, when you look beyond the ring, everyone is standing.
01:58The two of us had mixed opinions of each other going into this.
02:02And then when you get to this moment to plan what really is happening, what are we really trying to sell?
02:09This stuff, because you're putting your life in somebody's hands.
02:11But this is the one thing that we couldn't wing it out there because it involves the physical well-being of others.
02:17When you get to this moment, after all this shit-talking for a year, and you get two abrasive, strong-minded professionals in the same room, we do what's right for the business.
02:29That one moment between Dwayne and I and melding our personalities, that's when, at least I, from my perspective, I started to build a friendship with Dwayne Johnson.
02:41Dwayne had always been cordial to me and always helped me out, and I did something foolish and started to go into business for myself and drum up rumors about things I knew nothing about, which were great for this, but it's very much a professional faux pas.
02:56And then he finally shows up, and he goes one way, I go another, we never talk, and what you see play out on screen is very genuine.
03:04And if we had only just talked about our shortcomings, if I had only said I'm sorry, I think we would have skipped all that, but you would have missed out on great programming.
03:12A few days before this, we began to put this puzzle together, and I think that's when Dwayne finally realized that I'm not in it to take anyone's spot.
03:33I'm just trying to do good business.
03:36I went about it the wrong way, and this moment right here, when I don't know if The Rock is ever going to return, but he wins, and he wins the championship.
03:45And for a year, I went on television saying, there's no effing way you can win, and we divided our locker room.
03:54Man, my best friends were extremely upset about what was going on.
03:58Like, this moment cut to the heart of a lot of people, and I think that's the magical dust in what WWE can provide is the unpredictable.
04:08I've been a part of a lot of unpredictable moments in WWE.
04:11I hold this one very close to my heart, because right after this, I specifically stay out there, when usually when you lose, you're supposed to get the hell out of there and let the winner have their moment.
04:22I wanted to stay out there and soak in the embarrassment that I had let the entire fan base down.
04:28That way, it would help further my storyline.
04:31But after the show is over, the very first thing I do is apologize to Dwayne's mother, because she was the first person I saw.
04:39And I apologized and said, I hope you understand.
04:42I was just trying to do what was best for tonight.
04:44She, having the experience and wisdom, of course, she was extremely gracious and a class act like she always is.
04:49But it was important for me to get that weight off my backpack and then went right into Dwayne's locker room and apologized to him.
04:57And that was the first moment of me being like, man, this was great.
05:02If we had worked together, I don't know how great it could have been.
05:05Like, it could have been so much better.
05:06He was empathetic.
05:09He was gracious.
05:10I think he was riding high off of the moment because everybody loved it.
05:14You know, you put all this equity into putting your heart out there.
05:18And if they don't get it, well, now your heart's out there and that's the best you got.
05:23And they're not into it.
05:24They were into this.
05:26That's always kind of the healing power between two people in a WWE feud is when the audience is entertained.
05:33It kind of helps patch up whatever bad blood there is.
05:36This one match was, I think, was important for me personally to build a friendship with Dwayne.
05:42I think it was a great example for present and future superstars on you are not supposed to hijack creative just because you're not the main person.
05:54You would think that, like, man, going to the actual stage is going to be the worst part.
05:59That was the easy part.
06:00I knew I was losing the year before the fight.
06:03All of those promos you see, all those speeches, every single one of them, I knew that I was going to finish second place.
06:10So, amazingly enough, getting to the stage was like a catharsis of, like, finally, we can do this.
06:18It didn't affect my trajectory.
06:19As a matter of fact, it fueled me more to try to do better work.
06:22Amy, what's up?
06:35Is that wine in a box?
06:37Mm-hmm.
06:38I have red, too.
06:39You have red, too?
06:40Is this guy ever going to shut up?
06:42Please watch the movie.
06:44Oh, stop.
06:45No, that's not my...
06:46Man, when I see this, I'm like, gosh, I was really a larger person a few years ago.
06:53I think when I filmed this, I was, like, 255 pounds.
06:57And when I see that initially, I'm like, whoa, man, that's a small polo shirt.
07:01Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer both took a chance on me that they didn't have to.
07:06And a scene like this was not written in the script.
07:10The original script of Amy's life was based on an experience that she had where she got, like, worn out.
07:16During sex with this really in-shape dude.
07:20And the funny bit was, like, sex is too athletic.
07:24I'm over this.
07:25And then we get in a room and start reading through the lines.
07:28And then Judd, being Judd and being as good as he is, is like, ah, forget the script.
07:32Just kind of riff.
07:34And Amy and I just riffed.
07:35And she is, we all know she's so incredibly talented.
07:39Neither one of us backed down.
07:40And this opportunity found me at the right point in my life where I'm more comfortable with who I am.
07:47Both my strengths and my weaknesses.
07:49Listen, you always do this to me.
07:51You show up to these places.
07:52You put me in a situation.
07:53I'm a big guy.
07:54Everybody wants to fight the big guy.
07:55Yeah, you are.
07:56Hey, Mark Wahlberg.
07:57Shut your bitch up.
07:58Mark Wahlberg?
08:00So this is a scene that wasn't supposed to be in the movie.
08:04The ad-lib fight was completely all just improvisational.
08:12I'm in the room with a lot of professional comedians.
08:14And I'm not one.
08:16But I didn't have any fear that I would say something unfunny.
08:20Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow laid the groundwork for that.
08:24They're like, if we're only going to air the funny ones, say whatever the fuck you want.
08:28And that allowed me to sit down amongst comedians and not be afraid.
08:32This was the first performing environment outside the WWE and where I felt that comfort.
08:38Me?
08:38Who else looks like Mark Wahlberg?
08:40Your girl?
08:41Mark Wahlberg's like 150 pounds.
08:43I'm 250 lean.
08:45I look like Mark Wahlberg ate Mark Wahlberg.
08:48And keep in mind, before this, I had to be naked.
08:51Like, there is not a more embarrassing moment than having your dick swinging in the wind.
08:56And, you know, trying to have what I was told to.
09:00Like, have the most awkward sex you possibly can.
09:02They gave me a ton of backstory as to maybe he's a little confused.
09:07And maybe he wants a white picket fence.
09:08But maybe he also wants the bathhouse life.
09:11Take it whatever way you want.
09:13And, again, the foundation of them being able to just be like, man, we're only going to show the funny one.
09:20Go for it.
09:21Like, this is a safe space.
09:22Allow me to sit with professionals and have fun.
09:25I'm forever grateful to Judd and Amy for that.
09:27You killed my brother.
09:37You killed Keith.
09:39So here we are as the resurrected character, Peacemaker, who will do anything for peace.
09:45And right now, he is engaged in a slugfest with the White Dragon.
09:50James Gunn is one hell of a storyteller.
09:53I think he's one of the most prepared directors I've ever worked with.
09:56I think that's because he writes from the ground up.
09:59Man, this was an extremely powerful moment.
10:02And I think the power of this moment, first of all, being able to act with Robert Patrick again,
10:08who was my first foil in the first movie I ever did, The Marine, that was sweet.
10:12And now here we are again in such an emotional scene.
10:15There's so much that comes out here.
10:17The conversations Peacemaker was never able to have with his dad.
10:20The fact that the people Peacemaker calls friends don't necessarily know how to react to what's going on.
10:26The chaos that happens right before this moment and all of the emotions that Christopher Smith just blurts out in this moment of violence where that's all he knows.
10:37That's all he knows how to bridge the gap in any conflict.
10:40So he's doing what he knows, but also becoming this changed man.
10:44This is such a point of growth.
10:47Christopher Smith is a human.
10:49He's not necessarily a mutant superhero.
10:51He's a human who's got gadgets and is very trained in the ways of fighting.
10:56So I think it allows me to interpret the script in a way like, oh, what would a human being do?
11:03What would I do in this situation?
11:04We're all human.
11:05We've all had these emotions in our life.
11:07We've all been excited, happy, sad, disappointed, frustrated, angry.
11:11The most profound thing I found about the Chris Smith character is creating a defined character early on with a certain set of characteristics.
11:22And committing to that allows for a wonderful arc.
11:27The James Gunn quote that I always use, a douchey, bro-y Captain America.
11:32Start there.
11:33Be that guy.
11:34And then begin to work forward on anything else.
11:37So this is a dream come true.
11:59I get to be a Toretto.
12:01The long lost brother of Dom Toretto, Jacob Toretto.
12:04And in typical Fast and Furious fashion, the meeting between us is me getting form-tackled in a fifth-story tailor shop in Edinburgh, Scotland.
12:13What a dream come true here to be able to fight Dom Toretto in a Fast and Furious franchise.
12:20What I love about this scene, what I love about this movie in particular, is I'm a fan.
12:25You're like the new guy in a family of people who have worked together for two decades.
12:30So to be able to come in as a newbie and put on the Toretto cross, that was very special.
12:37I loved working with this cast.
12:40Everybody was fantastic.
12:42A sequence like this is very different than WWE.
12:45The footage from Dwayne Johnson, that was about a 25-minute performance.
12:48This is shot over three days.
12:49We lean heavily on our second unit and stunt teams to come up with the coolest stuff.
12:53But it takes a while to get tackled through a wall and have half the wall come by.
12:58It takes a while to get from a guy on a gimbal to come through and tackle you through the window.
13:03Heck, it's a different shot just to do the rifle to set up the zip line.
13:07You just have to embrace the patience.
13:08And that was the toughest thing for me to overcome.
13:13Because I'm used to like, your music's hitting.
13:14You'll be done in 25 minutes.
13:16No problem.
13:17I got this big action like this is actually what kind of soured me on the movie business early on in my career.
13:25When I went down to film The Marine in 2004 or 2005, gosh, I had just gotten a fiery start in the WWE.
13:32I'm world champion.
13:33I'm going to a different town every night, 320 days a year.
13:37Audiences just going nuts.
13:39And then I fly all the way out to Australia to library silence to shoot one explosion a day.
13:45Like, I hated it.
13:47And I hated it because I just wasn't ready for it.
13:49I didn't appreciate the patience of it.
13:51When I reflect back on my career, that's like, I didn't appreciate those opportunities.
13:56And by the way, I did a lot of shitty movies and that's why I didn't do movies for a while.
14:00I should have got run out of town.
14:02I didn't appreciate it.
14:03I wanted to be elsewhere.
14:05And I was doing movies as a vehicle to sell more tickets for wrestling.
14:08That's okay, but I wasn't putting my heart where it needed to be.
14:13And that was in the character on the set and appreciating everybody's role in the process.
14:16That's what a great full circle moment Fast 9 is.
14:21I come on as a new person into a veteran locker room and my role is big action.
14:27So I got to be patient.
14:28This is a moment to put a smile on my face, not only because I got invited into the family,
14:32but because I enjoyed the process.
14:35I wasn't being like, what's taking so long?
14:36And man, all this time to put these lights and this effect, I'll just fall down.
14:40I'll just do it.
14:40But then you realize like, okay, do it again.
14:44Okay, do it again.
14:45And the 60th time you're going through a wall, that's why it's patient.
14:50So maybe you get it right the first time.
14:51This is a wonderful full circle moment for me.
14:54You guys chose good clips.
15:01Something's weird today.
15:03Hi, Barbie.
15:06Oh, okay.
15:07Hi, Ken.
15:08I have a brewski beer.
15:09My big guy is thirsty.
15:13Anyway, uh...
15:15This is the second time I was able to act with my acting bestie, Dua Lipa.
15:18I hope she's doing well.
15:19I hope I know she's watching this.
15:21How you doing?
15:21This is a mistake.
15:22I had met a person at dinner who I was having an intimate moment with my wife with,
15:28and that involved me communicating with them, but not in my normal tact.
15:33And I was like, man, I want to do something nice for them.
15:35I'm going to pay for their dinner.
15:36It was a table that Margot Robbie was hosting, and I didn't even know it.
15:39And, of course, I was fortunate enough to work with Margot on Suicide Squad.
15:43She is the absolute best.
15:46I literally...
15:47An aspirational work ethic, as well as, like, aspirational professional talent.
15:53The best, period.
15:54She just runs over.
15:55She's like, oh, thank you so much.
15:56I didn't even know you were here.
15:57I'm doing Barbie.
15:58I'm like, yeah, I'm doing fast.
15:59We are literally, like, across the street from each other.
16:02She's like, you should come over and do Barbie.
16:04I'm like, I tried.
16:05You guys wouldn't have me.
16:06Listen, I'll do anything.
16:08The people she turns to are the people who are making the movie.
16:11She's like, do we have anything?
16:13Like, yeah, it's going to be small.
16:15I said, I'll do anything.
16:17It's not, I'll do anything, but it has to be the lead.
16:20I believe in your project.
16:22I think it's going to be cool.
16:24If I can help you in any way, I would love to.
16:27And then they're like, okay, but the small thing is, you're going to be a super tan merman
16:30in a wig, and you've got to sing to Dua Lipa.
16:34Okay, I'll do it.
16:36The serendipitous moment of life just laying opportunity in your lap.
16:40I call it putting a door in front of a window.
16:42So many times we can put a door in front of a window.
16:44I shouldn't do this because, well, the schedules will never work.
16:47That's bullshit.
16:47Let's talk it out first.
16:49It goes against how people see me.
16:50Who cares?
16:51What's the worst that can happen?
16:52I like to think about what can go right, and I like to think about how can we get it done.
16:58And this was an instance where a lot of folks were like, I don't know if that's a good look,
17:02but it's something I wanted to do.
17:05And I think in those moments, I trust and rely and love on the people around me.
17:10But I always listen to my instinct as well.
17:14And gosh, I just, I wanted to be a part of it.
17:17Thank you, Margo.
17:18Thanks for everybody.
17:19It's just not Margo's fault.
17:20There's so many people who were involved in making the schedule work.
17:24Thank you, Fast, for allowing me to walk across the street and put on the merman tail.
17:27That was awesome as well.
17:29But also, Greta and Barbie, they were surgical.
17:32We did all this in like two hours.
17:34They got me out and got me on, and I worked the rest of the day on Fast.
17:38I mean, it was, it was great.
17:40Ask yourself what can go right instead of what can go wrong sometimes.
17:42We're not okay.
17:51All right, if we fall into the wrong hands, best case scenario, they use us as a political
17:54football.
17:55Worst case scenario is, they make an example of us.
17:59Now put that down.
18:01You know what happened to the last guy who threw a shoe at his sitting president?
18:06This is a scene between Idris and I where I try to always never be the smartest guy in
18:11the room.
18:12This character is the smartest guy in the room.
18:14He's had success and fluency in one lane, and he thinks that that success, wisdom, and
18:19fluency carries over in all lanes.
18:22Again, like, oh, where did you have to dig for from this?
18:25You don't.
18:25Like, step on set every day and be like, I'm the smartest guy in the room.
18:30And do it with a swagger and confidence that's not cocky and not condescending and wanting
18:36to bring people together.
18:37But like, I know how this works out, but don't worry about it.
18:40All right, great.
18:41Kudos to you.
18:42Watch the pro go to work.
18:43And Idris is so wonderful at being matter-of-fact concise.
18:48His approach as a diplomat and as former MI6 is such a good yin and yang and makes for such
18:58a great buddy moment where, like, here, he's climbing up a tree to save me and then at
19:04a safe distance telling me I'm fucking stupid.
19:08And it works.
19:10And then I get so frustrated, I eventually, when the scene plays out, I shoot him away.
19:14And of course, he comes back to help me.
19:17So now I'm a person who's accomplished a lot in my life.
19:20And it's a scene where I have to ask for help and mean it.
19:23And I think those are important scenes, especially to knock the guy who thinks he's the smartest
19:28guy in the room down a peg.
19:29It's also a beginning of the camaraderie and friendship that this unlikely duo will share.
19:36Because, you know, Idris has fun taking the piss out of me by dropping me on one and watching
19:40me fall.
19:40And now he's got one up on me that he can always go back to.
19:43It's a really cool moment.
19:45And of course, it's just a gag.
19:47Like, the gag is one guy caught in the parachute.
19:49The other guy can save him.
19:50Watch the dude fall.
19:52Ha ha.
19:52Roll on snare.
19:53Everybody laugh.
19:54But I think when you get two performers, especially somebody as skilled as Idris together, and I
19:59get to let him shine, man, he gives you so much.
20:03He'll, like, tee you up with stuff.
20:05The movie, Heads of State, was a byproduct of our first run-in with the Suicide Squad.
20:10And I think Peter Safran, one of the producers on this, was like, we need to see you guys
20:13together doing the same thing.
20:14I have an idea.
20:15And Heads of State was born.
20:23Letterman.
20:24What are you doing here?
20:25Preparing for your execution?
20:27You don't think I have a chance?
20:31Get real, Jimmy.
20:32Sinclair's extremely pissed off, and he's going to make an example of it.
20:35This is fantastic.
20:36And that's me in the background with the blonde flacktop.
20:39This is a movie called Ready to Rumble, filmed about wrestling.
20:42And I'm out in California at this point, because I can tell by my haircut, trying to make it
20:46as a wrestler.
20:47I had started training.
20:49I was hitting way above my weight class, because I was humbled very quickly and being like,
20:53I don't belong here.
20:54I was large in West Newberry, Massachusetts, but here in Southern California, where everybody
20:59comes to make a career out of this, I can no longer do this.
21:02I had the same revelation when I played college football.
21:04Like, I'm not ever going pro.
21:06I started training to wrestle, and now I'm cast in a movie with wrestlers.
21:11I love this moment.
21:13And I look back on this fondly, because I'm an extra.
21:17And it has laid the groundwork for me that I'm not saying I don't have my frustrating days.
21:21I do, but I'm always respectful of, I say the word extra, because that's what they called
21:25me then.
21:26These are background players.
21:29Film a movie without this.
21:30Take all the background players out and just put the lead actors there.
21:35It is not the same movie.
21:37This goes back to my philosophy of no one does it alone.
21:40And every job is equally as important as the next, because we can't survive without all
21:44you guys.
21:44I love the fact that I was able to do this.
21:47This day sucked.
21:48It was long.
21:49If you play the clip, I'm just doing peck flies.
21:52So I'm basically doing an eight-hour chest workout.
21:56And I'm not even on camera.
21:57You know, like, I'm in the back, but I'm trying my best.
22:01And eight hours later, I go home.
22:02My upper body is just on fire.
22:05It was a lesson, again, in the way movies are made.
22:08I think I might like wrestling a little more than the movies at that point in my life.
22:12I'm finally getting to walk away.
22:13At that point, I was probably exhausted, but I got to do it.
22:16I try to lead with empathy.
22:18And boy, being able to do something like this, if you see a background player that's tired,
22:22I know what that feels like.
22:24So you can go up to him and let him know how much left we got in the day or like, hey,
22:27we're moving on from the scene.
22:29Because like I said, film it without him.
22:31It just don't look the same.
22:32I'm so grateful that you found this.
22:34It's awesome to see again.
22:36I don't look back on this with any shame.
22:38I don't mind watching it.
22:39It's one of those like, yo, I started in the mailroom type moments.
22:42I think it's really cool.
22:48And that's my time, folks.
22:50See you later.
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