James Gunn Gets Brutally Honest on Casting WWE Legends John Cena and Dave Bautista: “It’s a Thing a Lot of Big Actors Don’t Have”

John Cena is perhaps the greatest WWE Superstar of all time. He is a former 16-time World Champion in WWE and holds that record alongside Ric Flair. John was the face of WWE for nearly a decade and still remains one of the biggest draws in the business. Moreover, Cena has since transcended WWE and made it big in Hollywood. He has featured in many movies and recently got his own TV series.

John Cena’s biggest movie role perhaps was as Peacemaker in the Suicide Squad franchise of DC. He appeared as Peacemaker in the latest Suicide Squad movie released in 2021. Cena’s fans were extremely excited to see him as a superhero in a movie. However, it turns out that John’s acting skills are so good that even the movie’s director James Gunn became a fan.

Recently, Gunn spoke about Cena’s impressive acting skills in an interview with Vulture. Gunn said that he realized the true acting talent of John during a scene he was shooting with Cena in Suicide Squad. John’s character was supposed to be sad and vulnerable, and John effectively communicated that emotion with just his eyes. Appreciating that moment, in the interview.

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Gunn said, “When I saw that moment in him, I knew John was not just a performer who was funny, which is why I hired him, but a guy who had this other layer. At that moment, I knew John had that thing.” 

Gunn elaborated that he also thinks former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista also possesses this “thing”.

“It’s a thing a lot of big actors don’t have, and that most wrestlers turned actors don’t have. Dave Bautista also has it. That’s the reason I hired him for Guardians in the first place. “

It looks like John Cena and Dave Bautista share more than their origins in WWE. As their common director recognizes a common factor in them, that makes them both brilliant actors.

John Cena and Dave Bautista had similar journeys

John Cena and Dave Bautista were great rivals in WWE. They have had their share of big-time matches. Both Cena and Bautista came up together in WWE, so much so that they even trained together in WWE’s then training promotion OVW. The duo won multiple World Championships in WWE and became extremely popular in their time.

John and Dave both moved on to Hollywood to increase their prospects and are very successful at it. While Bautista retired from WWE after losing to Triple H at WrestleMania 35, Cena still shows up off and on in WWE.

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