Ferdinand Interview with John Cena

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Thanks so much to Fox for hosting us for a trip to Vegas to attend Cinema Con!

Vegas Baby! A few weeks ago, the girls went all out for a weekend in Vegas for Cinema Con. During our stay, we got a bunch of sneak previews on what is coming up for Fox this year. One of my favorite upcoming movies is Ferdinand an adaption of the children’s book “The Story of Ferdinand.” It is an amazing story that is brought to life by John Cena! After interviewing him, I know he is the perfect choice for the role of Ferdinand. He brought this lovable bull to life!

John Cena’s Casting as Ferdinand

“At first, they wanted me for a different part. But, scheduling has been tough because I say yes to everything and then figure it all out, because I have a very good perspective of, I live with a dream job. And when opportunities come up that I like, I just say – I’ll find more time in the day. The guy who’s kind of in charge of all my time, the weird guy in the gray suit, he said, “You don’t have time to do this.”” I assume this is John Cena’s manager. This was hilarious! He was sitting behind all of us as we talked.

“We kind of just left it at that. The folks at Blue Sky and Fox came back and were like, “Well, we’ve re-circled our wagons, and we would like John to be Ferdinand. Then I was like, “Man, you are stupid if you pass on this,” not only because it’s such a great opportunity, but it’s just a powerful story. And in every aspect of it, I am Ferdinand. I’m the guy that can’t walk out onto a stage without them trying to blow something up or everybody on the street challenging me to a wrestling match. It’s just because of what they see and it’s what I am perceived as. There is a typecasting that goes with what we do, but I’m a human being.”

“I love to go out on dates. I’m a different guy than what you see. What you see certainly is me, but I just couldn’t think of a better way to kind of tell my story through their story, and at least at the best I could do it. I’m like, “I get this, and I’ll be able to nail this.” So, we worked it out. He found a way to shift around some shapes and make 30 to 35 hours in a day, and I was like, “All right, let’s do it.” It worked out, and I’m glad it did.”

Take Away from Ferdinand

“First of all, I hope they see a great movie, because I really think it’s just a fun ride. It’s got all the entertainment of those animated movies that adults have to pleasantly watch 2,000 times. I think it’s going to be one of those movies that you don’t mind seeing again.”

“The thing that I find the most powerful, and I hate to shove moral fiber down people’s throats, but when you can tell a story and take people on a fun ride and also leave them walking away with a little bit to think about. It’s a famous tale about, there’s more than meets the eye. You don’t judge a book by its cover. Nowadays, with us empowering individuals to just be you, I did a wonderful campaign with Crocs that’s just about to go everywhere called Come As You Are. It just empowers people. The reason Crocs did it, and the reason I gravitated towards that, is because they’re a brand that gets a lot of flack. They’re not exactly known as the forefront of style, but everybody owns Crocs because they’re so comfortable.”

When they were, like, “Hey, we see how powerful you are on social media,” but my character in WWE is both loved and viscerally hated. Because I’m such a goody two shoes, there’s a portion of our audience, mainly the adults, that want me to just turn bad. But, I won’t, because I come as I am. I wear my jean shorts proud. I wear my ball cap and my wristbands, and they hate me for it. But, there’s also people that can resonate with that, like, “Man, this guy says never give up.” And I believe in that. So, that attracted the brand to me and it’s the same with this movie. You have this big, enormous, softhearted, loving individual who, if you just look at him, you’d be like, “All right, don’t want to pick a fight with him at the end of the bar.” But it’s so much more than don’t let yourself go there. Don’t just become that because that’s what people perceive you as. Nowadays, like I said, we just empower individuals to just be who you are. That I like, especially with certainly young, impressionable people. Ferdinand knows who he is the whole time. But also with his influence, he takes a group of eclectic folks and lets them see, “Wow, there’s more to life than what people just may see me as.” I hope they take that away from it.”

He inspired the world by being himself. Watch the new trailer for Ferdinand and see the beloved classic come to life this Christmas! https://youtu.be/jyJgGsZo2wA

I am extremely excited to see Ferdinand coming out in theaters over Christmas this year. The actors are amazing and from what I have seen so far, it is going to be hilarious! Check out this cast!!