The upcoming Barbie movie features quite the ensemble cast, but one cast-member was included entirely by accident. John Cena appeared on Today with Hoda & Jenna where he revealed that his appearance in Barbie came about because the movie happened to be filming across the street from Fast X.
“It was a happy accident,” John Cena said of his Barbie appearance. “I think Barbie and Fast X share a lot of parallels. Their cast list is amazing. The Barbie cast list is amazing. The Fast X cast list is amazing. It was a chance maybe to [say], ‘Hey, would you guys be willing to have me if I could do something?’” The actor said that he pitched himself directly to Margot Robbie, saying that he would “pretty much do whatever you guys need.” When they asked him if he wanted to be a merman, he agreed immediately.
Prior to the advantageous meeting with Margot Robbie, John Cena had actually auditioned for Barbie but didn’t get it. “I tried and got rejected,” Cena said on Pop Culture Spotlight with Jessica Shaw on Sirius XM. “They were putting out open casting for the movie. I get it, I wasn’t a piece for the puzzle. I think a lot of times people think, ‘Oh, he wouldn’t do that.’ I don’t think there are any small parts. A chance is a chance. An opportunity to show your skill or develop a new skill, that’s fantastic. That’s why I want to do all this stuff, so I think once they realized I would just be grateful to be involved, they were like, ‘Yeah, you can do this.’“
“To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place,” reads the official Barbie description. “Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.” The film also boasts quite the stacked cast. In addition to Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie also features America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, Ana Cruz Kayne, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Aryya, Dua Lipa, and Helen Mirren. Greta Gerwig directed the Barbie movie and penned the script alongside Noah Baumbach.
John Cena will next be seen in Fast X, which hits theaters on May 19th. You can check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here. Barbie will hit theaters on July 21st.