In terms of his professional wrestling career, John Cena seemingly accomplished what many aspiring pro wrestlers might dream of.
That includes rising to immense popularity through hard work and perseverance and winning almost every possible championship in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
During his lengthy career, his major championship total approached the legendary Ric Flair, something very few achieve within the company.
Although he was close to passing the Nature Boy, Cena opted to focus more on other career pursuits outside of the wrestling ring, including his acting career.
Moviegoers have seen him appear in comedic films such as Trainwreck, Daddy’s Home, Blockers, and Vacation Friends.
He has several big screen appearances on the way in 2023, including reprising his role in the upcoming high-octane thrill ride Fast X and a unique role in the Barbie film.
John Cena to appear in Barbie role opposite Dua Lipa
Barbie will be a big-screen movie based on the line of dolls manufactured and launched by Mattel in March 1959. The fashion dolls rose to incredible success and became a pop culture phenomenon, with multiple variations of the original, as well as additional doll characters, toys, and other accessories.
For quite a while now, the film’s lead actors have been known as Oscar-nominated actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling take on the roles of Barbie and Ken, respectively.
Previously, John Cena was said to be in an undisclosed role for the film, but now it’s been revealed that he will appear as a merman version of Ken. Based on the recent details given online, his character is opposite that of singer Dua Lipa, who plays Mermaid Barbie.
Cena’s appearance in Barbie marks his second film with Robbie. The two were previously in James Gunn’s adaptation of DC Comics’ The Suicide Squad, with Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn and Cena portraying Peacemaker for the first time.
Robbie appeared as the iconic DC character in multiple films, including the Birds of Prey spinoff focused exclusively on Harley. Meanwhile, Cena continued with his Peacemaker role in Gunn’s well-received HBO Max series based on the character.
Barbie film features an all-star cast
As mentioned, the film stars Robbie, 32, as Barbie. The Australian actress already has two Academy Awards nominations during her 15-year film career.
She was first nominated for portraying American figure skater Tonya Harding in 2018’s I, Tonya. Robbie received a second nomination in 2020 for playing personality Kayla Pospisil in Bombshell, which focused on the Roger Ailes sexual harassment scandal at FOX News.
Gosling, who portrays Ken, also has two Academy Award nominations during his career. His first came in 2007 for Half Nelson, where he played Dan Dunne. In 2017, he received a second Oscar nomination for his role as Sebastian Wilder in La La Land opposite actress Emma Stone.
Several weeks ago, the second official trailer for the film arrived on the internet, showing viewers what sort of vibe the colorful and humorous movie brings with it.
Cena and Dua Lipa aren’t the only other stars that will be part of the Barbie cast with Gosling and Robbie. Helen Mirren narrates the film, while Will Ferrell plays a toy company CEO. In addition, Michael Cera, Rhea Perlman, and America Ferrera are part of the cast.
That’s not all, though, as there will be multiple variations of the Barbie doll, including SNL alum Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, Issa Rae as President Barbie, Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie, and Dua Lipa as the Mermaid Barbie.
Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Scott Evans, and Ncuti Gatwa join Cena in roles as different variations of the Ken doll.
The Warner Bros. movie is directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the film with Noah Baumbach.
Fans of the various actors or the iconic toy can see how things might look in a Barbie world when the doll-inspired movie hits the big screen on July 21, 2023.
