For Cena's wrestling career, see this page.
Jonathan Felix Anthony Cena (born April 23, 1977), credited as John Cena, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He debuted as a wrestler in 1999 and signed with WWE in 2001, leading to a long and prolific career and an all-American public image. For more on that, see his dedicated wrestling page.
Cena had a short-lived rap career in 2005 with his album You Can't See Me. He began his acting career in WWE productions The Marine and 12 Rounds in the 2000s, and mostly appeared As Himself in television guest spots during that decade. Besides the obvious action film roles given to wrestlers-turned-actors, in the 2010s he began to show a penchant for comedy, showing up in works like Sisters (2015), Daddy's Home, and Blockers. He's also done some voice acting as the titular role of Ferdinand. He also hosted the reality TV shows American Grit and Wipeout (the 2021 revival).
In 2020, Cena was cast as the role of Peacemaker for James Gunn's DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad, which premiered in 2021. He then led the character's titular Spin-Off series Peacemaker for HBO Max.
You can see him...in the following works:
- The Marine (2006): John Triton
- 12 Rounds (2009): Danny Fisher
- Legendary (2010): Mike Chetley
- Fred: Fred's Dad
- Fred: The Movie (2010)
- Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (2011)
- Fred: The Show (2012)
- Fred 3: Camp Fred (2012)
- Psych (2010, 2017note ): Ewan O'Hara
- The Reunion (2011): Sam Cleary
- The Flintstones: Stone Age SmackDown! (2015): John Cenastone (voice role)
- Trainwreck (2015): Steven
- Sisters (2015) (2015): Pazuzu
- Daddy's Home (2015, 2017note ): Roger
- Surf's Up 2: WaveMania (2017): JC (voice role)
- Ferdinand (2017): Ferdinand (voice role)
- Tour de Pharmacy (2017): Gustav Ditters
- The Wall (2017): Staff Sergeant Shane Matthews
- Blockers (2018): Mitchell Mannes
- Bumblebee (2018): Agent Jack Burns
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Baron Draxum (voice role)note
- Dallas & Robo (2018): Robo (voice role)
- Playing with Fire (2019): Jake Carson
- Dolittle (2020): Yoshi (voice role)
- The Fast and the Furious films: Jakob Torreto
- DC Extended Universe: Christopher Smith / Peacemaker
- The Suicide Squad (2021)
- Peacemaker (2022)
- Vacation Friends (2021): Ron
- Barbie (2023)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023): Rocksteady (voice)
Tropes about his career:
- As Himself: Due to not becoming famous through acting, at the beginning he was often cast for quick guest appearances playing John Cena the wrestler, such as in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Parks and Recreation.
- The Host: He hosted the reality TV show American Grit and is one of the co-hosts of the Wipeout (2008).
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: Outside of wrestling, Cena initially made an attempt at becoming an action star to mixed success. Then he played a Large Ham lunkhead in Trainwreck and people discovered just how funny he was, resulting in his subsequently being cast in comedies instead.note .
- Playing Against Type: His film roles occasionally go against his wholesome public image (from wrestling):
- In Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he voices Baron Draxum, the main antagonist. He was also the original voice for another villain, Hunter Cain before being replaced by John DiMaggio in his second appearance.
- Playing Vin Diesel's evil younger brother Jacob Toretto in F9.
- Portraying a swear-happy, murderous, perverted and hyper-masculine Eaglelander Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.
- What Could Have Been: Around the time of his wrestling debut Cena was auditioning for the voice role of, get this, Ron Stoppable. Just think, if Will Friedle hadn't earned the spot modern wrestling might look very different.
