John Cena understands why the Peacemaker character is more relatable to some people than his WWE persona.
To promote the season finale of Peacemaker on HBO Max, John Cena sat down with GQ to talk about a variety of subjects. While discussing his WWE character, Cena says it was never his decision to stay face or turn heel because he doesn’t run the company.
“WWE’s version of John Cena has changed tremendously over the years and for the last decade, I would say has been a character with a cornerstone value system of virtue,” John Cena said. “And a lot of times audiences now want to get behind the character who is flawed like Peacemaker who isn’t completely steadfast in his value system and doesn’t completely operate for hustle loyalty and respect and the foundation of pure virtue. People want more depth and a character arc. In the WWE we are just playing a role, but I kind of do this for all of roles, whether it be Peacemaker, or John Cena, or whatever. I have to try to look within myself and take moments from my actual life and see how I felt and try to put that into a character.
“I’m not exactly somebody who kicks in your front door and rips through your house in jean shorts and a t-shirt ready to throw my hat at your parents and ask you to a Last Man Standing match. But I know what it means to be excited. And if I need to conjure up an emotion of let’s say sadness, I look back on my life and remember when I was sad and hopefully find some sort of emotion I can grasp on to and then put it into a why would my reflection of this person think they are sad.
“It takes a certain type of individual to go out there and play your hit song every night for two decades. There are decisions I can make, but I don’t make. Okay, now John Cena is going to be a bad guy. I don’t make that choice. Then I can be like okay, never gonna be a bad guy. How can I nuance a virtuous character? Would it have been great to be able to mess with the flaws of WWE John Cena? Oh my goodness, I think there’s another 10 years worth of story in there. But it’s not my choice. I don’t run the company.”
What do you make of John Cena’s comments? Do you think WWE missed the boat by not turning him heel when they could have? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit GQ with a link back to this article for the transcription.
