John Cena Says Role As Extra In Ready To Rumble ‘Laid The Groundwork’ For Him

John Cena was an extra in 2000’s Ready To Rumble, an experience he says he looks fondly back on. Cena appeared in a Vanity Fair video rewatching some of his on-screen work in WWE, Barbie and more, and he reflected on his work in Ready to Rumble and The Marine in the video. You can see highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On being an extra in Ready to Rumble: “I started training to wrestle, and now I’m in a movie with other wrestlers. I love this moment and I look back on this fondly, because I’m an extra, and it has laid the groundwork for me … take all the background players out of a movie, and just put the lead actors there, it is not the same movie.”

On working on The Marine: “When I went down to film The Marine in 2004, 2005, gosh, I had just gotten a fiery start in WWE, I’m World Champion, I’m going to a different town every night, 320 days a year, audiences just going nuts. And then I fly all the way to Australia to library silence, like to shoot one explosion a day. I hated it, and I hated it because I just wasn’t ready for it, I didn’t appreciate the patience of it.”