John Cena Thought Movie Career Was Over After Several Early Flops

John Cena may be a major Hollywood player now, but he just admitted that he once thought his movie career was completely over—and for good reason.

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Cena opened up about his rocky start in the film industry and how his early projects nearly derailed everything. Talking about his time filming The Marine and 12 Rounds under the WWE Films banner, Cena admitted he wasn’t ready—and worse, he wasn’t even fully interested.

“I did The Marine when I was a young WWE superstar. I was in Australia filming the movie, and all I thought about was wrestling. My passion wasn’t in it. I wasn’t invested. Because of that, I was also unprofessional, which made me unreliable.”

According to Cena, those early movies weren’t about art—they were a corporate play to drive ticket sales.

“The reason I did The Marine and 12 Rounds was a business model. WWE Films was supposed to make us movie stars so more people would go through the turnstiles.”

But Cena admitted that the approach was flawed from the start since his mind wasn’t in movies, it was about selling tickets to WWE events.

“I didn’t do movies because I wanted to do the craft — I did it to sell tickets. So something was always going to suffer. Yes, we might sell more tickets, but the movies were going to suffer. My mind was elsewhere. I wasn’t present.”

The turning point? A brutally honest moment with his best friend and manager, Dan. This made John Cena believe his career in movies had truly come to an end.

“I remember looking at my best friend Dan and saying, ‘After this bunch of s***** movies, we’re never going to do movies again, are we?’ This is the guy whose job it is to hunt for film work. He turned to me and said, ‘No, we’re not. But don’t worry about it — we’re going to find another way.’”

That “other way” came in the form of TV cameos and game show appearances—smaller gigs that helped Cena stay active and sharpen his skills. Then came the real break.

“I got a lottery ticket because someone wanted me to come audition. I was wiser and older, and I said, ‘Hey man, if you say yes to this, I want to be an actor and put the same passion and elbow grease into it that I put into being a wrestler.’”

Fast-forward to now, and Cena is not only a box office draw with projects like The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Fast X, but a respected name in Hollywood. And it all came from starting over, this time with the same drive he brought to the ring.

John Cena’s meteoric rise in Hollywood is proof that second chances can lead to massive comebacks—but only if you’re willing to learn, grow, and own your past.

Do you think John Cena is one of the most successful wrestling crossovers in Hollywood history? What’s your favorite John Cena movie or TV role? Drop your thoughts below and let us know what you think!

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