John Cena in a film still from Barbie.
American professional wrestler and actor John Cena would have turned down the opportunity to appear in Barbie if he hadn't listened to his gut. On a recent episode of The Howard Stern Show, he shared that his team advised him not to do the movie, reported People. "So it's not a big team, which I'm grateful for. I don't have a publicity department. I have a manager only because it's me and him. We're kinda like a two-prong fork," said John Cena.
"And an agency that goes out and tries to look for work, and I don't put it past them, they're just going on what they know. And what they know is, 'This entity, this commodity gravitates toward these things, we should stay in this lane.' But I'm not a commodity," he continued. "I'm a human being, and I operate under the construct of every opportunity is an opportunity."
Although the actor was busy filming Fast X when he read the screenplay, Barbie happened to be filming on the same studio lot, allowing him to eventually meet Margot Robbie, who encouraged him to play a merman.
Even when the Barbie producer and actor assured him that he would just have to go through "half a day" of filming, his agency was not convinced.
"I think the perspective from an agency standpoint was 'This is beneath you,' which I get that," explained the WWE wrestler. "But also to the agency's credit, immediately they acquiesced, and I was like, 'No, we're going to do it,' but all they can do is offer their guidance," said Cena. "They're not ultimately making a choice."
"And their guidance is 'Truly trickle-down economics from this may take you out of these lead lap slots.' And I get all that," continued Cena. "I've always operated under the philosophy that good work gets you another chance."
According to People, by listening to his instincts, Cena participated in a film that earned the biggest opening weekend of 2023 and grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide. The film is up for eight awards at the 96th annual Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
After Robbie failed to get a Best Actress nomination and Greta Gerwig failed to be nominated in the Best Director category, Cena shared with People why he feels "awards aren't the only metric to success."
"I try to operate under the construct that, 'What can I control?' And I can't switch anything that's happened," shared Cena at the U.K. premiere of Argylle.
"I can let my friend Margot and I can certainly let Greta know that awards aren't the only metric to success and they have made a movie that has done tremendous business and changed a lot of lives in the process," he added. "And I think that's one hell of an achievement," reported People.
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