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Volume 634
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Thursday, April 29th, 2021
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Page 2 of 4
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and Blockers. Is Peacemaker meant to continue that subversion of audiences' preconceived notions about you or does it sort of play into them?
Cena: Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with diving into preconceived notions, if that's who you are. I mean, if you can remember, that's exactly what I did at first. I did macho action movies
that were complete failures. So I did that and it wasn't really who I was at the time.
I compare the experience by saying I got to be put in these action sequences with these tremendous stunts, but yet I was doing that every night in front of 20,000 people and the electric passion you feel
and certainly the love and excitement I have had and will have for WWE is unwavering. So given the choice between doing stunts surrounded by 36 cameras and no one else watching or doing stuff in a live
arena, I wanted to be in the ring. Especially at that point in my life when I began doing these movies, that would be 2004. I was literally just getting comfortable on the WWE canvas and deciding that
was really where I wanted to be.
Fast forward to now, a decade and a half later, and I don't think anything's out of reach, with Fast Nine coming up, that certainly is a blockbuster action installment. The Suicide Squad has a lot of gore
and a lot of action involved in it, but it's me realizing who I am and who I'm not.
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I think that's why you see me all over the map from family movies that Playing With Fire to R-rated comedies like Trainwreck to PG-13's like Daddy's Home, to a DC movie like The Suicide Squad, to a
straight-up blockbuster action like F9. I have an R-rated comedy coming out on Hulu called Vacation Friends, to a straight-up action two-hander with Jackie Chan called Project X that was filmed in China.
Everyone always asks, "Well, what's the next movie you're looking for?" And my answer is always the same. I say, "I'll know it when I read it." I just like to read stuff and see myself in the story.
Because that's the one thing that's really helped me with WWE, me being able to absorb the story with whoever I stand across the ring from.
Q: Based on what we've seen in the trailers, it almost seems like Peacemaker could be a warped version of your character in WWE. Did you draw any inspiration specifically from the "John Cena," boy
cout-esque character?
Cena: I remember meeting with James and asking if I should dive into the comics history of Peacemaker, and he specifically told me not to. I think that's because James likes to navigate his story. He just
was like, "you have what I'm looking for. Just be yourself, and if you're willing to take direction, I think we can do something special."
I originally had approached this character as much more of an angular, drill sergeant, Full Metal Jacket-
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