WWE Daily

MovieOnline has got an indepth interview with WWE Superstar John Cena on his newest movie to debut this Friday March 27, “12 Rounds”. Here are a few highlights:

Q: How do you feel this movie career is going for you coming off the WWE?

JOHN CENA: Fantastic. “The Marine” a few years ago was a great introduction I would say for me into acting. I learned a lot from doing that movie and certainly corrected a lot of what I thought the flaws were of that movie into “12 Rounds.” This one is a product that I’m very, very proud of. I can’t believe only for my second feature that it’s something that came out this excellent and that’s only thanks to Mark Gordon, to Fox, and to Renny Harlin.

Q: Are these projects that come to you first or do they go through Vince McMahon and then to you?

JOHN CENA: This one actually came to me from a man named Josh McLaughlin who works for the Mark Gordon Company. He’s a good friend of mine and literally over a cup of coffee pitched me this movie. I fell in love with it only because at 6 feet, 250 pounds, it’s tough to find a super villain physically capable of matching up on screen with me. So, the fact that I was essentially competing against myself for these 12 rounds or 12 challenges really appealed to me. The fact that I was a normal guy rather than some super cop that was indestructible, that caught my eye too, so I said, “Listen, you’ve got to get me a script. I’ll get it to the boss. I think we can make this movie.” He got me the script. I handed it to my boss, Vince McMahon. I said “We’re making this movie.” And he just read it through once and he shared the same enthusiasm I did. Before I knew it, we were in New Orleans making a movie.

Q: You said earlier that you’re good at doing two things at once — shooting a movie and wrestling at the same time. What about three things? When do you find time to work out with that busy schedule?

JOHN CENA: Working out is easy. When you set up camp on a movie, step one is to find a good gym and I found a great gym really, really close to the city. It’s actually owned by an Olympic lifting coach so not only was it a great gym but it’s stuff that I train. I train a lot of multi-joint power movements similar to an NFL football player. Whenever we’re traveling across the country or wherever we’re at – I’ve been with the WWE 8 years now, I’ve been around the world 5 times, and I can tell you where the gym in every city is.

Q: What’s next for you and how are you planning on spending your summer?

JOHN CENA: Hopefully shooting another movie. This spring is going to be very busy. “12 Rounds” on March 27th. The 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania is April 5th for us in Houston. Like I said, there’ll be literally 80,000 people there in Reliance Stadium. I’ll do a two-week tour overseas with the WW after that followed by a full time schedule and right now working on a third possible Fox WWE picture that’s in development, and if everything goes correctly and it’s looking very, very good, we should be shooting in July.

Q: Can you tell me about working with Vince? I find him very scary.

JOHN CENA: I just think because his persona on television is so very serious, and he certainly has a reputation for being quite an intimidating person, and even just the way he carries himself is very forceful.

Q: Are you intimidated by him?

JOHN CENA: Not at all. Originally I was, just because of how he carries himself, and the fact that this guy took literally a carnival-esque business and made it into a media juggernaut. He’s done pretty well. I wish people could get to know the boss he is, the family man he is. He’s one of the most driven, hard working individuals I’ve ever seen, so dedicated. I was kind of brought up on the same ideals as he was: work hard, be loyal, always appreciate your family. He’s a good guy to work for. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Read the complete indepth interview go here.