John Cena Says His Fear Of Heights Comes From WWE, Talks Facing It For Matchbox: The Movie

John Cena has a fear of heights he says comes from his time in WWE, something he faced while making Matchbox: The Movie. Cena stars in the action comedy, which releases on October 9th via Apple TV. He does a number of his own stunts in the film — including some which deal with heights — and he spoke about the matter in an interview with E! News. You can see the highlights below:

On Facing His Fear Of Heights In the Movie:

“There were very many times where I thought like, ‘Oh, this is unsafe. This is where the stuntman is, this is where a professional is going to come in and make this look smooth. Hat’s off to Sam Hargrave for being like, ‘I’m going to second guess you there.’ Sam’s origin story, he started as a performer and is a second unit director and a coordinator. So, he knows what it feels like to fall. He knows what all the the rigs feel like, he knows what’s safe. He knows when the professionals need to come in. And he wanted to push the limit of, ‘Hey, I want you, John, to do as much as we possibly can.’ Because of Sam’s fluency, I got to face a lot of my fears and do a lot of things that I’m uncomfortable with.”

On His Fear Coming From WWE:

“And I think my fear of heights stems from falling down most of my life in the WWE, and knowing a fall that is going to hurt, and a fall that is going to injure, and a fall that it’s going to be greater than that. So I hadn’t been able to tackle that fear, I was still very scared in doing all that stuff. I didn’t overcome my fear, but I promised Sam I would lean into the uncomfortable. And he promised me I would be safe, and we both delivered on our promise.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit E! News with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.