John Cena On Why He Kept Quiet About His Marriage, Talks Getting Cast in Barbie

In an interview with the Today Show, John Cena spoke about why he hasn’t talked much about his marriage to Shay Shariatzadeh. The two were married in 2020 in a private ceremony. Here are highlights:

On returning for Fast X: “I get to be a cool uncle. The family is in trouble with a bad guy who has no intentions of turning good this time in Fast X with Jason Momoa. He steals the show in his role and I get to be the cool uncle to take ‘Lil B’, little Brian Toretto, on a road trip to try to get him to safety. Action and adventure ensues, the weather is warming up and it’s great weather for a summer box office. Fast X is exactly that.”

On his role in Barbie: “You know what? It was a happy accident. I think Barbie and Fast X share a lot of parallels. The cast list is amazing. Barbie cast list is amazing. Fast X cast list is amazing. So with a lot of opportunity, it was a chance to, ‘hey, would you guys be willing to have me to do something?’ […] “An accidental run-in with Margot Robbie, I said, ‘I will pretty much do whatever you guys need,’ because I really enjoyed the movie. And they asked me if I wanted to be a ‘merman,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I hadn’t worked with Margot before. We literally randomly ran into each other as friends and we were filming across the street – Fast X was filming across the street from Barbie. And they said, ‘Why don’t you do Barbie?’ I said, ‘I’m trying’, and Margot makes a lot of decisions for that.”

On his marriage and not talking about it: “Some things are worth keeping to yourself. She loves me for who I am, and I love her for exactly who she is. She’s the one that can actually see me.”

We’re catching up with WWE superstar and actor @JohnCena!

He talks about how TODAY has been “instrumental” in his career, his role in the latest installment in #FASTX and reveals how he landed his #BarbieMovie role after a conversation with Margot Robbie. pic.twitter.com/Qk4IzpvgFm

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 15, 2023