American actor and wrestler John Cena says his agency adviced him not to star in Barbie because it was “beneath” him.
John Cena recently appeared on The Howard Stern Show where he spoke about his cameo in “Barbie.” He said,
“The agency is just going on what they know, and what they know is, ‘This entity, this commodity gravitates towards these things, we should stay in this lane’. But I’m not a commodity. I’m a human being, and I operate under the construct of every opportunity is an opportunity.”
Cena was filming Fast X at the time. He said, “I read the script of the movie and I tried my hardest to be in it. Margot [Robbie] was like, ‘We’ll make you a mermaid. You’ll be in it for half a day.’ Yeah, sure. But I think the perspective from an agency standpoint was, ‘This is beneath you,’ which I get that. But also to the agency’s credit, immediately they acquiesced.”
“I was like, ‘No we’re going to do it,’ but all they can do is offer their guidance. They’re not ultimately making the choice. And their guidance is, ‘Hey, truly, trickle-down economics from this might take you out of these lead leap slots.’ And I get all that. I’ve always operated under the philosophy of good work gets you another chance.”
