John Cena Says He Always Wants to Be Known as a WWE Star, Talks Latest Film

– John Cena spoke with the Belfast Telegraph for a new interview promoting his film Playing With Fire and discussed being proud of coming from WWE, plus more. You can see some highlights below:

On taking a goofier role that makes him “look ridiculous” in Playing With Fire: “After seeing what I’ve done for 15 years, to be able to sit down and see that mystique and wall broken down, at my expense, for the fun of the viewer, I think it’s funny. And I’m comfortable enough with who I am to do it; I don’t have to look tough or act a certain way or project a certain image. I’m comfortable in my own skin. And if I can put a smile on someone’s face while I make a fool out of myself, I’m happy with that.”

On the film’s more comedic action sequences: “I enjoyed the fact that most of the action is meant to get a smile and a laugh. I’ve come from a world where a lot of the action needs to be serious and impactful and prove your worthiness and striving towards being a champion, and then you take this fearless group of smoke jumpers and put them through action which is meant to make people laugh. I really think that’s the heart and soul of the film, being able to watch with everybody and have a fun afternoon at the movies.”

On what appealed to him about the character: “I’ve always been so focused on work, and I love my work, and I enjoy my work. But, only recently, I’ve taken a look around and gone, ‘Wow, life is also really cool’. So, I really resonated with the fact that this guy was so focused on one single goal and being the best at that goal – a lot of his ability to look around at this wonderful world that’s out there was lost. And it took a certain series of events, the kids coming into his life, for him to look around and imagine, ‘Wow, this could also be valuable to me’. I know that’s intrinsic and sappy, but that’s really what drew me to this story; it wasn’t fighting fires or jumping out of helicopters, it was the struggle the character goes through, that I am currently going through.”

On his WWE roots: “I hope they always view me as a member of the WWE, because I am. Whether it’s watching the events or being able to participate, any chance I’m given to answer this question, WWE is my family. It’s weird that the culture is, you either do this or you do that, and for 20 years I’ve been trying to tell people, ‘No, it’s all really cool’. So I don’t ever want to not be known as a WWE superstar. I can’t perform as much as the current ones, because I’m a little bit older, and I have these cool opportunities to do other stuff, but in doing other stuff, I’m not saying that world is shut off. I’m trying to bring this world with me, so we can all be involved in a movie conversation, or a WrestleMania conversation.”