John Cena: I Wasn’t There To Be ‘The Marine’, I Was There To Put More People In A WWE Arena

John Cena talks his role in The Marine.

In 2006, John Cena was just becoming one of WWE’s top stars, and as WWE studios was launched, Cena found himself in the lead role of action flick, ‘The Marine’. While Cena has now become a coveted Hollywood star in 2025, back in 2006, he only wanted to bring more fans into WWE fandom.

While speaking to PEOPLE in a new interview, Cena spoke about his role as ‘The Marine’ noting that he wanted to put more people in a WWE arena.

“This is my first movie role, The Marine, and what a great lesson. I can’t control anyone’s perception. I’m sure there’s folks who’d be like a overnight sensation. It’s undeniable that people are going to think the way they think. Looking back, what a great lesson that this and a few of the movies that I was fortunate enough to do after have given me. The reason I did this is because WWE was opening a movie studio and the thought process was if we could make our in-ring talent movie stars, more people (would) come to the shows. As an in-ring talent, the one thing I want is more people at the shows. So I would go do this. Here I’m in my mid-20s. I’m a world champion. I’m going to five shows a night and a different crowd every night. I get the creative space to improvise and ride the wave of this noise that is indescribable. Musicians know it, stand-up comics know it, sketch comics know it, but there’s a very small group of folks that know the energy of an audience. Then I go to a quiet movie set that takes a long time to light, and especially action. It takes like eight hours to do a huge practical explosion, and I wasn’t there to be the Marine. I was there to put more people in a WWE arena, and I’m proud that I got to do it, and when I reflect on this, it reminds me of when I sit in the chair to talk to you, because we’ve committed to do this, and when I sit down to be in a role, put your focus there. Don’t be elsewhere because here (points to photo) I was elsewhere. I was in Madison Square Garden. This was in Madison Square Garden. This guy was in Australia filming a movie and you can see it in the work. I got to brush up against brilliant actors and boy, I mean, the movie’s fun, But I just wanted to go back to the ring and I wasn’t mature enough to understand, like, no, it’s not that simple, andI got run out of the movie business in like 2009 for for doing bad movies where I wasn’t present, thinking that just because i wore a gold and leather belt on Monday and Friday, they’d come see whatever I’m doing. What an excellent photo to look at. Because it reminds me, like, reset your odometer, pal. It’s time to learn another craft. When you are somewhere, be somewhere. Don’t be elsewhere. This one’s helped me a lot.”

Elsewhere in the same interview, Cena spoke about how he felt like wrestling schools were ‘mythical’ when he was learning how to wrestle. You can read more about that here.

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