John Cena flexes military muscle on 'Psych'

John Cena

It’s tough for any pro athlete to make the leap into the acting profession, but John Cena is handling the transition smoothly. The World Wrestling Entertainment star has landed roles in movies and on TV, including starring in the 2009 action flick "12 Rounds." In a episode of "Psych" airing January 27 on the USA Network, Cena guest stars as special operations soldier Ewen O’Hara who gets involved in a murder mystery investigated by "Psych" main characters Shawn Spencer (played by James Roday) and Burton "Gus" Guster (played by Dulé Hill).

While on his way to the airport, Cena took time out to do a telephone conference call with journalists. During the interview, he talked about what it was like to be on "Psych," his upcoming movie project, and how he feels about wrestlers being role models to kids.

Were you a fan of "Psych"? Had you seen it prior to guest starring in it?

Well, just because of the relationship with the network I’ve seen bits and pieces, I’ve never been involved and dedicated for the seasons and everything, but really kind of saw that it was my sense of humor and definitely when I got on set I knew I would fit right in. The show’s very well-written … I love how it’s put together. I wasn’t a die-hard fan but have since become one. I really do like what they’re doing with the show and I’m happy that I can help kick off the new time slot but it was it was an educational experience but one that I certainly, I made some new friends and certainly had a newfound respect for what those guys [do].

John Cena, James Roday and Dulé Hill in "Psych"

Now obviously, you have acting experience, but I don’t know that James or Dulé have a lot of experience with wrestling so what do you expect from them as guest hosts on "WWE"?

I’ll tell you what, Dulé’s energy is second to none and James, believe it or not, whether you’re going to get him to admit this online on the phone is one of the biggest closet wrestling fans I have ever come across in my life. There are many intricate professional wrestling references in the kick off "Psych" episode. It was a pleasure to see and those guys paid homage to the sport and to the industry fantastic, fantastically well with their clever way of writing material.

Your "Psych" character is a super agent. How much fun was it to play a character like that?

It was really cool but at the same time to have a bit of a mercenary type feel. It wasn’t the Johnny-do-good sort of baddest man on the planet style. The guy that I play is a true mercenary. He’s very good at what he does, but at the same time is certainly out to make money and knows he has to compromise some morality issues to get the job done sometimes, and I think that’s what leads up to a very interesting ending.

Might we see you come back to "Psych"?

I would certainly love to make another appearance. I’m so glad that they didn’t [have an] ending to my character, and I would certainly love to come back. Let’s hope we get some good ratings for the episode, and if we do, then hopefully I’ll be seen again.

Dulé Hil, Maggie Lawson, James Roday and John Cena in "Psych"

Is it hard to keep a straight face on the set of that show?

No. They take everything in stride, those guys, like I said, they’ve got a great sense of humor, they’re willing to laugh at themselves and wink at the camera, and that’s really what I like to do. So we held it together just about until they said, "Cut." And then, yeah, we had a bunch of laughs, but those guys have a wonderful sense of humor.

Are you going to be getting into the ring together when James and Dulé guest host on "WWE"?

I hope so. I, especially after learning about how much of a fan that James is, the duties of our host are kind of up to the host. They can be as physical or as administrative as they’d like to be. I know that I’m going to be there, and I’m most certainly going to be in the ring for action, so whether they want to get active or not is certainly up to them. I know either way they’ll enjoy the experience and either way it’ll be an unbelievable cross promotion. I mean our fans will certainly tune in to see the episode of "Psych," and hopefully we get some "Psych" fans to watch "WWE."

How do you think wrestling’s changed over the years?

This is something that can be as long or as short of answer as you like, but really quickly I’ve watched it as a child in the ‘80s and then kind of grew up with it in the ‘90s and watch it now. It’s almost come full circle, it’s back to its PG format. The production value is second to none to any live television show out there that includes all live news, all live sport shows.

We really know how to shoot what we do very, very well, we’re very effective at it. I think it is constantly improving and giving its consumers the best value it can for the money. But at the same time it went through a very, very radical phase in the late ‘90s, and is now since kind of found its own in an entertainment block that is OK for pretty much everyone to enjoy, not just a set demographic, the over 18.

John Cena and actor Ken Jeong at a taping of "Monday Night Raw" in Uncasville, Connecticut, in August 2009

What age do you think it’s appropriate to start in schools and for them to actually start wrestling?

If you ask me, I can just use my own success as a template. I knew very little about professional wrestling and sports entertainment … I graduated from high school and graduated from college without ever having stepped foot in a ring. So is there an exact age? I really can’t tell you. I can tell you what I’ve done and I had a lot of success and I still hopefully, barring any physical disaster, have a long life left in my career.

So I don’t think there is a prime age or even a prime way to, you know, prepare yourself for the WWE I think you kind of got to take everything in stride. I can emphasize first and foremost that it is very, very difficult to become a WWE superstar, so it certainly doesn’t hurt to have education to fall back on.

How much of your role from "The Marine" did you use for your role in "Psych"?

This was a little bit different because "The Marine" role was more "punch you in the face and see how big the explosion can be" type of thing, but I think this was that kind of spinoff. They wanted that kind of super badass, you know, toughest man alive … But I didn’t want to give the same thing. I wanted to be able to show just a little bit of the humor, a little bit of more, a little bit more depth just because the people who have already seen "The Marine" have kind of already seen that. So I tried to take what we did in that movie so that it would be relative and kind of add a little bit to it.

What was it like working with Robert Patrick again?

Yeah. It was awesome, man. It was really, really good to see him. He’s one of my favorites. We have some good times together. What a pleasure it was that he was just coincidentally on set at the same time, and there we are in more scenes together. It was really something special.

John Cena and James Roday in "Psych"

So you’ve done TV and movies along with everything with WWE. How do you keep everything so balanced? Is there one medium that you prefer over others?

No. I really love what I do for the WWE and all these opportunities have spawned from my success in the WWE. So I guess that’s where my allegiance lies, but everything I do is pretty much to promote the extension of our brand: all the movies, all the TV spots are all pretty much to let everybody know that I like what I do in WWE [and] they should tune in. I guess maybe sacrificing sleep is the way I make it all work, but somehow it all balances out. I haven’t broke down yet, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because I do like everything. I do the TV the movies and of course WWE. I don’t ever dread going to the office.

Between Gus and Shawn, the main characters on "Psych," who do you think would win in the ring?

Because of his kooky quirkiness, I like James. He’s a fun dude to be around, extremely, extremely witty and that can get you miles and miles in the WWE ring.

John Cena

How do you handle the fame when it comes to kids? Do you treat them like you would any other fan or do you take that role extra seriously because you’re making impressions on a bunch of young guys or what?

I think that’s something that you have to take seriously, and I think that’s something in today’s day and age that isn’t taken quite seriously enough, to be frank, especially with us really promoting the fact that we’re TV PG and we’re kind of welcoming our youth audience. It goes without saying that if you’re in a position where you’re supposed to be a positive influence on these young people that you are a positive influence on these young people.

And it takes extra time, but it’s one thing that can really, really pay off in the long run. I think we all have experiences when we were young where we either had an interaction with someone we admired or you know, had a vision of how they were and found out that they weren’t necessarily that and that it tends to be a big letdown sometimes.

So if I’m supposed to be the person that a lot of these young people believe in, I try to do the best I can to be that guy. And then my personality on television is not a far stretch from who I am in real life, so it’s not, it’s not that hard it just takes a lot more time.

John Cena at a Los Angeles Dodgers/Chicago Cubs baseball game in Los Angeles, August 2009

So who was your hero when you were growing up?

My favorite athletic hero was Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees, and fortunately [I] had a chance to meet him this past year when I threw out the first pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was very, very pleased to say that he was nothing but a gentleman. That was somebody that I looked up to as a kid, and in that one brief meeting that I had with him this summer, it was solidified that he was the right guy to be rooting for.

What are you working on now?

I’m actually wrapping a film that’s tentatively titled "Brother’s Keeper," but the title will change. It most likely will be released in August [2010].

Who are your co-stars?

Patricia Clarkson is in it as a female mother of the boy star. Danny Glover is also in it. It’s going to pan out to be a really, really good movie. It’s a drama about a young man who uses amateur wrestling as a backdrop to kind of bring a family closer together … It’s amateur [wrestling], so it’s a little bit different but it still has an element of pure sport so it’s nice.

John Cena in "12 Rounds"

Was it always your intention to become an actor or was it always going to be an actor/wrestler?

No. There really hasn’t been a game plan it’s just, I’ve learned since the first day I came on board in the WWE to be ready for anything. I’m a gold recording artist: We came out with an album and I sold over half a million copies of that. I’ve done a couple movies now, I’ve had some TV spots, and all of this is opportunity is literally developed out of nowhere, but it’s all been from the WWE. You just have to be ready for your opportunity and just make the best of it when it comes.

Did you enjoy doing comedy on "Psych"?

Yeah. I did have a good time doing that. I think we all have a sense of humor, and I’m not one to take myself too seriously, but I very rarely can feel that side with the nature of WWE programming, so I was really, really excited about doing it.

So you’re a funny guy in normal life?

I’d say that, that depends on who you ask. I’d like to think I don’t bring the party down.

John Cena with Schuyler Andrews (on Cena's shoulders) and Nipper Knapp in "USA Network Super Bowl Promotion"

Did you get involved with any of the psych outs at the end of "Psych"?

I don’t know which one they used because the version I saw didn’t have it, but they’ve got some good material and whenever they show it on TV, I’m sure they’ll have the extra stuff on the Web, so it’s something that you’re going to want to see, I’ll put it to you that way.

What do you think keeps James and Dulé’s comedic timing together since you’ve gotten to know them?

Certainly it’s a yin and yang. Dulé is very slapstick, Dulé’s over-the-top. James is very, very witty and he’s got that dry sense of humor that just matches well.