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Before John Cena was a movie star, he was a WWE star, but his rise to movie stardom wasn’t easy.
“I was run out of the movie business in 2009 for doing bad movies where I wasn’t present,” Cena, 48, told People magazine. “I thought that just because I wore a golden leather belt on Monday and Friday, they’d come see whatever I’m doing. It’s not true.”
He began his acting career with roles in movies such as “The Marine” and “12 Rounds.” However, Cena didn’t see success until the 2010s with roles in “Trainwreck,” “Blockers” and “The Suicide Squad.” His role as Peacemaker in the DC Extended Universe “changed [his life].”
The 2021 movie has since been turned into a TV series. “It’s a great show that’s more than just action,” he told the outlet. “It’s a love story. It’s a workplace comedy. We’re the long shots, the lovable losers.”
As he retires from the WWE ring and moves his focus toward acting full-time, Cena made one move that he hopes will revitalize his career – a hair transplant.
“A different hairstyle can identify a part that can get me more work, do the thing I love to do,” he told People. WWE fans wouldn’t let the wrestler hide his hair loss, which ultimately helped him make his decision.
“As I was trying to hide my hair loss, the audience was bringing it to light,” he told the outlet. “I saw their signs that said ‘The bald John Cena.’ They pushed me into going to see what my options were.”
The attention to his receding hairline led Cena to develop a lengthy routine and get a hair transplant.
“I now have a routine: red-light therapy, minoxidil, vitamins, shampoo, conditioner – and I also got a hair transplant last November,” he revealed. “I hate the fact that if there wasn’t so much shame around it, I’d have gotten it done 10 years ago. I thought I was alone, but seven or eight out of 10 [men] suffer from thinning or baldness.”
“They don’t do anything except move your hair, one by one, from one area to another,” Cena explained.
He gets “fired up” about the topic because it “completely changed the course” of his life.
“If somebody’s going to sweat me for that, I don’t think there’s any shame in that.”
Cena’s transition from the WWE to Hollywood wasn’t easy.
Last year, Cena gave advice to NFL star Travis Kelce, who has taken on some acting roles on top of playing for three-time Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I would inspire him to reflect on his journey,” Cena said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “He didn’t become a Super Bowl champion in a year… This is the one misconception that a lot of people have… ‘You were born for this.’ I was not. I worked very hard and suffered a lot of setbacks and looked ridiculous and had a lot of failures. But I have a lot of people supporting me, and I just never gave up.”
Cena joined the “Fast and Furious” franchise in 2021, playing Vin Diesel’s character’s brother in “Fast 9: The Fast Saga” and “Fast X.” He also made a cameo in “Barbie” in 2023, and starred in the Hulu original movies “Vacation Friends” and “Vacation Friends 2.”
He announced his retirement from the WWE in July 2024.
Cena began his WWE career in 2002 on “Smackdown!” as “The Prototype,” eventually transforming into his rapper persona, the “Doctor of Thuganomics.”
Throughout his career, Cena has won a record-breaking 17 WWE world championships.
“I’ve always said to the audience that WWE is my home and I love it,” Cena told reporters in July 2024. “Just because I physically feel I’m at my end, doesn’t mean I need to distance myself from something I love.”
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