John Cena Reveals Who WWE Originally Wanted To Star In "The Marine"
WWE star John Cena may now be the star of his own TV series, Peacemaker, but before all that he got his start acting in the WWE Studios action film The Marine. In an interview with GQ, John Cena talked about his experiences filming The Marine, what WWE was trying to do when they launched WWE Studios and why Cena was so eager to try his hand at acting.
"The Marine was a wonderful experience and it's one I'll never forget cause you can't have a journey without the first step, and the first step is always the boldest," Cena said. "They say timing is everything and I was not ready for the opportunity I was given. I always spoke about how I was courageous enough to step up when I was asked to embrace hip-hop culture on WWE programming. Well this was a decision made to open a studio to try to diversify the abilities of WWE Superstars.
"The WWE has a tremendous talent and it's not just physical talent. I believe their performers just have a knack to know audience. Their improvisational skills are second to none. They possess so much more than just physical gifts and Vince McMahon agreed with this philosophy, opened a studio, and figured if he could make WWE Superstars also movie stars it would be a broader reach. The movies would obviously generate profit, but, furthermore, we could get more people to come to WWE shows. So me, being just enamored with WWE and it was my life's passion at the time, I said, 'no problem.'"
While The Marine was John Cena's first starring role, it was not a role WWE originally had in mind for him. Reiterating a story he has told before, John Cena talked about how WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin was originally eyed for The Marine, and it was only after Austin backed out did Cena claim the role. By his own admission, he wasn't ready for it.
"This was originally a role that was written for Steve Austin and two weeks before shooting, Steve backed out for whatever reason," Cena revealed. "That's a conversation for him. Vince said 'hey, I gotta send you to Australia.' I said 'okay, what am I doing?' And he said 'well, you're gonna be in a movie.' 'Okay, when?' 'I gotta send you in 10 days.' I pretty much left a small meeting in his office and packed my bags and went to be in the movies, which I knew nothing about.
"So I'm a young man in his mid-20s, I love the life I'm leading. I'm riding a lightning bolt of live audience every night. I'm champion at the time. As a former athlete, I get to be physical all the time. I have what I believe is a good work-life balance and then I get thrown into cinematic creativity, which is very patient. It is a very slow process and I just wasn't ready for it."
You can watch the full interview below.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit GQ and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription