John Cena’s first acting experience was “overwhelming and then immediately disappointing.”
The 49-year-old star made the move from the wrestling ring to the big screen back in 2006 when he appeared in The Marine, but he admitted he didn’t take movie-making as seriously as he did his WWE career at the time.
Noting his first experience was “overwhelming and then immediately disappointing”, he told PEOPLE, “Which is so sad to say, but I have to lead with honesty.”
Of not taking things seriously, he added, “That really led me to pretty much lose those [acting] opportunities. I pretty much was run out of town for the movie business in 2009, 2010.
“It was my own fault,” John confessed.
At the time, the Blockers actor “didn’t have much passion in the projects that I was doing” and struggled without the excitement of a crowd cheering him on.
“Making movies is a patient process, and everyone there has a meaningful position, and I came from a world of live performance where it’s very different,” John explained, adding, “And you gotta keep in mind in 2004, heck, I was in my mid-20s, and I was WWE champion.”
He continued, “Every town I went to, there were thousands of people either screaming that I’m awesome or screaming that I suck at the top of their lungs; it was like there’s nothing like it. There’s no feeling like it.”
In contrast, life on a movie set is “library silent”, with no way to gauge how he was “doing”, get “immediate gratification” or know if he “bombed.”
“They’re very long days, they’re very patient days, and I think you just have to be in the mindset for it. Thank goodness that some people along the way, in 2012, in 2015, saw some potential in me and took another gamble,” John expressed.
Projects such as comedies Trainwreck, Sisters and Daddy’s Home “very much helped” John to “change [his] perspective”, and now he is always grateful for the opportunities he receives.
“That really helped me get a second chance that I know might not have been fully earned, but opportunity comes, and I answered the door, and I’m really trying to do the best I can with it,” John Cena said of how he stabilized himself in the acting industry.
