Wrestling helped prepare John Cena for his current life in film.
Cena made his official film debut in 2006 when he starred in The Marine. He took time off from WWE in 2004 to film the movie, right in the middle of his rise up the ranks. Cena would return in late 2004 and win his first World Title at WrestleMania 21 in 2005.
Speaking to The Gorilla Position, Cena discussed filming movies while being the brightest star in WWE and how he had to learn patience on a movie set.
"The early movies I did with WWE Films -- I never look back on my experiences with regret, I try to learn from them. I always thought I could make the process go faster. That's the environment I was familiar with," said Cena. "You have to understand, this was 2004 to 2009. These are the prime years of when things were catching fire. The place I really wanted to be was on the canvas. That's where I felt most comfortable. And I was still trying to learn who I was. I went from a character shift from the ruthless aggression guy to the rap guy to the non-rap guy to the Superman guy. All that happened in that time period. It was such a thriving environment because of the instant gratification. Then you get plopped in a set and you're waiting eight hours for a giant stunt and you don't understand the reason. I'm in the stunt business and I just want to fall down. That's not the way it works."
On the similarities between acting and wrestling, Cena noted that both involve elements of storytelling, which made him comfortable when transitioning to movies. He also revealed that he has no ego when it comes to movies or wrestling.
"It's storytelling. It's a massive (learning curve), but I have comfortable roots. I can't tell you how much, not only in cinematic acting, but in life, WWE has prepared me for," he said. "I take what I learned as a storyteller there and bring it here and take what I learned from becoming a success there, listen to people who know what they're doing. I give full faith and full direction to people like Travis. Our first meeting was, 'Hey man, I love this story. How can I help you make it?' Not, 'How can I take your vehicle to become famous?' When you tell the person who is coaching you, 'Hey, I need coaching. Feel free to be open with me. I have no ego. My ego is making an awesome movie.' That's the relationship I have with my boss. No ego. Let's make great moments and how we can do that."
Cena's new movie Bumblebee opened in theaters this past Friday. He is expected to return to this ring on Dec. 26 at the Madison Square Garden live event.
You can listen to the entire interview with Cena in the video above.
