How John Cena Pulled Off a Good-Guy POTUS in <em>Heads of State</em>

Contrary to what every WWE meme says, you can see John Cena. In many places. Flip on WWE's Monday Night Raw on Netflix and you can see Cena—currently the biggest heel in pro wrestling—slam rivals as the reigning WWE champion. (He will retire by this year's end and is dead set on enshrining his GOAT status before he exits the ring forever.) Log in to HBO Max and you'll see previews for Peacemaker season 2, premiering August 21, with Cena again under the chrome helmet of the DC Comics antihero. In 2026, Cena will (finally) star in Coyote vs. Acme, the completed Looney Tunes movie that a David Zaslav–run Warner Bros. unceremoniously locked away almost two years ago.

Don't forget Cena's last known whereabouts: Prime Video. Over Fourth of July weekend, Cena made fireworks with Heads of State, a new action comedy directed by Ilya Naishuller (Nobody) that reunites him with The Suicide Squad cast mate Idris Elba. Cena stars as Will Derringer, a Hollywood star turned U.S. president who survives an assassination attempt alongside the UK prime minister (Elba). Stranded on foreign soil, the two politicians hilariously bicker as they fight their way back home to stop a coup.

A beloved public figure who has achieved even loftier heights on the global stage is a mirror inverse to Cena's other alter ego: an evil wrestler whose ironclad grip on his legacy takes root in insecurities. Deafening chants of "Cena Sucks" and "You Can't Wrestle," which haunted Cena throughout his wrestling career, have only amplified amid his so-called Farewell Tour. But which version of Cena—the jerk jock, the president, the R-rated comic-book action figure—is closest to himself? "The answer is all," Cena tells me. "Because I'm human. That's what's wonderful about being able to tell stories.

"A lot of people find success with one lane," he adds. "For the longest time, I couldn't sit down with anybody and have them not ask me to hit them with a chair, because that's all they know. But I am happy, frustrated, angry, and sad. I know despair. I know excitement. I'm a human being. That's what's special about people willing to take a chance on you and say, 'I'd like to see you empathetic' or 'I'd like to see you broken.' I've lived a wonderful life and have all that reference to pull from."

A WWE star since 2002, Cena spent the post–Attitude Era years as the industry's biggest main character. His ongoing stint as world champion is his historic 17th reign, surpassing the great Ric Flair. In 2006, WWE's ill-fated foray into movies led him to his acting debut in The Marine, a popcorn flick in which Cena uses his military skills to rescue his girlfriend from a thief, played by Robert Patrick. A throwaway line calling him "the Terminator" cleverly suggested that Cena, with his chiseled bod, square jaw, and competency at pretending to throw hands, was the heir to Schwarzenegger's throne.

But supporting roles in comedies like Trainwreck, Sisters, and Daddy's Home adjusted everyone's attitude about what kind of movie star Cena could and should be. Cena is funny—painfully so. A deadly cocktail of expert timing and heightened awareness that his physique can be a tool more than a crutch have placed him in a league of his own. And Cena weaponizes audience expectations in Heads of State, playing a movie star who coasts on his hypermasculinity but has never actually gotten his hands dirty. Still, he's a caring family man who tries to see the best in everyone.

"This is the best example of what John Cena does," says director Ilya Naishuller. Recalling the first week of filming, Naishuller was careful not to poke Cena's face in makeup tests, fearing the garden variety of movie-star egos. "And John's like, 'I'm an object,' " Naishuller continues. "I'm like, I'm not sure I follow. John's like, 'Poke me where you want the blood marks. I am an object. I am here to serve the movie.' That is his attitude. He puts the movie first versus himself. It's a director's dream. It allowed me to make the movie I wanted to make."

In a conversation that took place before the release of Heads of State—and his victorious title match against career nemesis CM Punk at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia—John Cena spoke to Esquire about the nuances of his latest onscreen role: that of a man who only looks like he can do it all but tries his hardest anyway.

John Cena and Idris Elba star in Heads of State, a new action comedy from Nobody director Ilya Naishuller.

"When you attach 'President of the United States' to someone, we have in our head what that might look like. That's a definable character. And then when you attach words—positive, ignorant, empathetic—you mold his strengths and flaws. In WWE, when your music hits, you want [the audience] to understand who you are before you come through the curtain. Sometimes you have to prove what you stand for. It's the same onscreen.

"I don't have any practical fighting skills. I am not an indestructible human being. I am very human. You have to summon the courage to be authentic and understand [that] it is for the joke. A lot of times when we [play a role], you go through training or some rehearsal, but you don't have the fluency of someone who's done this for life. For me, all roads lead back to WWE. We've had a lot of guest appearances on WWE, and audiences grade those on a curve. All they want to see from our guests is that they care and [are] willing to take a bit of risk. They don't need to have a 60-minute match. So when we're in a movie and you're supposed to be fluent with a firearm, you undergo the process of what you're about to do. If I'm about to do a rack to check the chamber, or if I'm about to do a cool reload, you just go over [it] so that piece looks great. [For this movie] I just leaned into being myself."

"I love telling stories through action. We have to show these two are outgunned. But you can't just have them get beat up. Ilya does it in such a way that references Jackie Chan—fighting from underneath, physical comedic storytelling. Every piece of action leads to the next piece. It's a big puzzle, and nothing is forgotten. I saw Nobody and was impressed, but to see Ilya on the ground doing what he does, it's like, This is really well thought-out.

"There are parallels [between wrestling and acting] that run a lot of the same lines. My time under tension certainly exists in the WWE and a little bit onscreen now. When I started getting more time onscreen than in the ring, I thought the disciplines were very different. Now not a day goes by where I don't see them as identical."

"It's excellent to work with someone you're friends with, because the days are long," Cena says of costar Idris Elba.

"I understand my luck, and I try to honor my luck by leaving it all in the ring every night. I wouldn't say I'm a critic's best friend. That doesn't mean I don't listen to the opinions. It's been some of the strongest verbiage I've been able to entertain audiences with. Critics can be very influential in the success or failure of personalities and projects. But as long as we do this, to get people to feel something, and as long as folks enjoy it and we have ways to figure out if they don't, I welcome all critical feedback.

"I've also learned over the years there's a difference between true negativity and somebody just wanting to kick a hornet's nest. There are critics who are actually making you better. Maybe I am doing animation that is 'cheap-seat friendly,' as we call it in wrestling. The ability to sift through those is important. My strong point is doing my best to entertain. The most important thing is: This is my job and I want to keep doing my job. If we don't generate interest, I don't get to do my job anymore."

"Visions like that put the cart before the horse. What I do know is Ilya is a great filmmaker, and anytime Idris wants to do something, I'll make it. He's easy to work with, and he makes me better. I know we're going to come out with at least something that I'm proud of.

"But we suffer from giving our all to a project before audiences have their chance to interpret it, and we're already printing the next one. I want them to be able to enjoy it, and hopefully the demand is there for another one. Because then we can listen to our audience: Hey, this was great, but you were missing this. Or, Man, I'd love to see you guys do this. It's feedback we have we don't need to apply, but it could help us curate the next adventure. I like to build that bridge when we get to the water."

"That is a pleasant surprise. The thing about movies is that a lot of people put their heart and soul [into it], and we really are vulnerable in front of the camera. You've got to have courage to look broken, look silly, to show weakness—all the things that society tries to keep us from doing. We go out there as performers and we emotionally give ourselves. I'm trying to say how fortunate I am. But to have a rare occurrence where, because of economic purposes, we've got to put that work aside and think that it's never going to see the light of day. It's really, really nice that audiences can see it."

"I've performed live in a lot of places for a lot of audiences during times of turmoil and times of peace. The baggage that people bring is their own, period. Not once at all making this film did I consider implications beyond that of making an entertaining movie for folks. The plus side of something like this is no matter the weight of your baggage—it may be scrolling the headlines, a relationship you have, or you feel you're stuck at work—I'd like to offer the same thing the WWE offers. I go in there with whatever stresses I have. And as a performer, I come out and come back through that curtain, and I feel like I'm walking on clouds. It's so much emotional escape. So if I can be a vehicle to help people get a little less stress in their day, that's a good deal."

"Not in a jacket like this."