At a time when comedy projects often need advocates, there aren’t many at the moment who are bigger — both in impact and stature — than John Cena.
The WWE legend and accomplished actor stars opposite Eric André in Netflix‘s Little Brother. Currently streaming, director Matt Spicer’s feature also stars Michelle Monaghan and Christopher Meloni in the story of Rudd (Cena), a real estate agent whose meticulously planned life is disrupted when his quirky “little brother” Marcus (André) resurfaces. As is often the case, Cena’s comedic fearlessness is fully on display.
“Eric was trying to get the film made,” Cena tells The Hollywood Reporter of the movie’s origins. “Netflix said, ‘We’ll make it if you can get John.’ Eric knew me and said, ‘Would you want to be a part of it?’ I read the script in 90 minutes. I told him I would do it 24 hours later, and then Netflix is like, ‘We have a comedy on our hands.’”
The performer remains busier than ever, as he stars opposite Jennifer Garner in Netflix’s 2027 crypto comedy One Attempt Remaining from filmmaker Kay Cannon, who directed Cena in 2018’s Blockers. “This is my second time working with him, and I love it each time because he elevates everything he’s given, and he’s willing to try anything,” Cannon tells THR. “I’m excited for audiences to see him add ‘romantic lead’ to the growing list of things at which he excels.”
And no less of a comedy authority than Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Farrelly, who directed Cena in 2024’s Ricky Stanicky, told THR, “Without question, I would say John was the most prepared actor I’ve ever worked with. On the first day, he knew the entire script from front to back, every line.”
During the below conversation with THR, Cena discusses how his wrestling trajectory taught him the proper way to play for laughs, how it felt to see a World Cup player imitate his famous “You can’t see me” gesture and how he maintains hope amid our divided cultural moment.
You had a memorable scene in Blockers that involves a beer bong. It came to mind for me during a moment in Little Brother involving your backside. Did this remind you of filming Blockers?
I remember when we did the ass-chug scene in Blockers, everybody’s like, “Are you OK with this?” I know what I’m signing up for. Enthusiastically, let’s do some ass-chugging. I’m trying to protect my daughter in Blockers. In Little Brother, Michelle [Monaghan’s] character comes to an impasse of like, “I’m going to do whatever was within my control to make things better.” She gets advice from Eric’s character, and then we have what you would refer to as a callback to Blockers where she does something outside of her comfort zone. It seems like it’s going to work until the character gets triggered again.
How did your career lead to this point where you excel at comedy?
For any origin to my bravery, the credit has to be given to WWE. The audience is vocal and honest and harsh. You understand that you aren’t cool for any long period of time. The biggest mistake you can make with that audience is by not being authentic, by not going for it, by trying to make safe choices. I took that lesson to every aspect I get to do to perform. It’s simply the wholehearted investment of the material and not doing gags for the sake of gags. You also have to trust the process and be willing to fail. It is not a conservative choice. Toward the end of my WWE career, I was heavily winking at the camera. Even then, it’s a stage of commitment and saying, “We’re all in this together, audience. You guys have gone on with my belief for 20 years. So for the last three, it is no longer mine. It is ours.”
You star in an array of projects, but with comedy, is that something you have to fight to do, or do comedy scripts often come your way?
What happened in my story is, some confident comedians were willing to take a bet on me to do small, clearly etched out parts: Trainwreck, Sisters, Daddy’s Home. After doing a few of those, I got some more comedians to place a little bit of a stronger bet — and then a stronger bet, and then a stronger bet. All roads lead to wrestling — I didn’t start as the champion. Now, I can be a conduit to help other comics shine [when] I’m not the funnyman. I can be a ray of hope to help get comedies to start rolling footage. Filming a comedy is so much fun, and every day is hysterical — even the long days. [On the other hand,] filming action scenes and doing choreographed fights 12 hours a day, six days a week — it looks great. But it’s physically difficult, and there ain’t too many jokes. (Laughs.)
Are comedies tougher to get made than they might have been 10 or 20 years ago?
Comedies aren’t the same as they used to be 20 years ago. We’ve evolved as a world, as a culture. We want to be more empathetic as people, and empathy is sensitivity. The last thing I want to do is bad bad taste — bad comedy with bad taste. You want to be empathetic of everybody’s feelings, so people are taking less chances. You’re seeing a resurgence, [with] Little Brother being a movie that hearkens back to, “OK, we’re going to throw some of those rules out the window and just try to make you laugh, and we’ll see what happens from there.” Maybe, just maybe, I can continue to be a conduit to let more comedies get made. Maybe the world sees Eric André, and it’s like, “This kid’s a star.” So now he’s another conduit for the check writers to say, “OK, this is a bankable asset.” We need a group of folks who are conduits to help get the projects made, and I’m grateful if I could at least help this one. Hopefully, the road will continue to open doors for some funny people doing funny things.
Any talk of Peacemaker coming back for season three?
There’s two bosses that sit over at DC: Peter Safran and James Gunn. That’s a question for them, boss. Trust me: If the call happens, I told them they’ll have to tear the suit off of me. I love Peacemaker.
Part of the appeal for comedies like Little Brother is a sense of escape. We’re in a tough and divided moment politically and culturally. Several years ago, I wrote a story about you visiting a Ukrainian fan. Do you value finding ways to unite people?
Where I find hope and happiness is looking in the past. Please, I urge you to look at history. There have been times when acts of atrocity have been going on — and gosh, some of those things are incomprehensible — yet humanity has found a way. So when I feel we’re at a point of, “Man, I just can’t take it anymore,” I look within myself, and I say, “What can I do in my own space to change my mindset, to put a little more positive spin on it?” I love looking in the rearview mirror because man, we have found a way through a lot of hard times, and that gives me hope about the road ahead. So if you can have a source of hope and be a source of hope when things look pretty grim, hope gives you a chance. I guess I just always want to have a chance.
When you see the Curaçao player doing your gesture in the World Cup, it’s got to be a reminder of that joy that you bring around the world.
Man, to see that Curaçao player — in a moment that’s quite important to him, that is earned over so many years of effort — give a slight nod to the invisible man, that warms my heart and brings a smile to my face.
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