Maybe it was the early positive reviews or maybe because we were among the last of his virtual interviews, but John Cena was looking peaceful when he faced Asian press, including The Philippine STAR, to discuss his HBO series Peacemaker.
The DC original series featuring the 44-year-old Hollywood star in the titular role is written and directed by James Gunn, the hitmaker behind the Guardians of the Galaxy movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Suicide Squad in the DC Extended Universe. The first three episodes are dropping tomorrow, Jan. 13, on HBO GO.
It was in Gunn’s 2021 movie The Suicide Squad, also available on HBO GO, where the wrestler-turned-actor first appeared as Christopher Smith a.k.a. Peacemaker. The vainglorious, muscled “superhero” is committed to upholding peace in America — or at least, his idea of it — no matter the cost and whatever it takes to achieve it.
“Eat peace,” the Peacemaker calls on kids, calling them the m-word with weirdly sincere but cluelessly crude bravado in one of the funniest scenes from the teaser trailer.
To audiences, Peacemaker might not be the most PG-rated character out there. His ways of saving the world could be deemed objectionable by today’s moral standards.
Cena acknowledged that his character attracted divergent views, but these also made him interested in playing Peacemaker.
When asked during the virtual roundtable interview about where Peacemaker operated in the spectrum of hero and villain, the actor was clear about wanting to see him as a hero.
“I think every character is driven by what they believe is right. I think Peacemaker is interesting because audiences have a very different view on that. And that’s okay,” Cena said.
“I think that’s what’s interesting about the show, Peacemaker isn’t 100-percent good, Peacemaker isn’t rotten to the core. And I think it’s that calling to both of those sides that makes the show very interesting and very engaging. And people can have different perspectives and not be wrong. I think Peacemaker’s a hero because of this. I think Peacemaker is a villain because of this. They can all be right in their arguments. And I think that’s what’s interesting about the perspective.”
When it came to his approach to his character, especially the sad parts, Cena humbly admitted that he wasn’t a “good enough” performer to draw inspiration out of thin air, nor did he have a live audience to feed off their energy. However, he challenged himself to be vulnerable by reflecting on certain real-life moments and using them for his performance.
The spin-off series from The Suicide Squad film also stars Danielle Brooks as Adebayo, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Harcourt, Steve Agee as Economos, Chukwudi Iwuji as Murn and Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith.
Gunn wrote all eight episodes of Peacemaker after doing The Suicide Squad, and directed five of the eight episodes. Gunn, Peter Safran and Matt Miller served as executive producers on the series, with Cena as co-executive producer.
Here are more excerpts from our interview with Cena.
On how he landed the role of peacemaker:
“I got lucky. I know James was scouring the earth for Peacemaker. And I know I wasn’t the first name on the list, but I was the name that meshed the best. And I flew out to Atlanta to the pre-production headquarters for The Suicide Squad where I met James. I was overwhelmed by his work ethic and the preparation for the movie. I’d never seen anything like it. And we got to talking and I guess I passed his litmus test. And he offered me the Peacemaker. And it was a very quick ‘Yes, let’s do this!’ I was just oh, man. It was very, very impressive to see his process and I was very lucky to get that opportunity. So yeah, it was a very, very quick yes.”
On how he would best describe his character:
“Conflicted. Extreme. Exhibitionist (laughter). Why? Everything from certainly the uniform to, you know, just the way he talks to folks, I think he wants to be center stage for sure. The extreme measures he goes to do his job and the extreme approach he takes to relationships, I think, would define the ‘extreme’ pretty well. And conflicted — you know, when we meet Peacemaker, his entire world is turned upside down. And that’s from everything — from surviving his adventure in The Suicide Squad and finding out, you know, that he did survive, to beginning to question everything he’s been brought to believe. So, I think that explains all those (words).”
On interesting trivia about his costume (ER, uniform):
“It is a two-person operation to get on. There is some certain fascinating (thing) in the rear of the suit that requires some help. So, I can’t dress myself. That’s a secret that you now know. No, I don’t have a costume indoor helmet. DC won’t give me one. So the costume and the helmet are regarded like the Queen’s jewels. I have to nicely ask to wear the costume every once in a while. But I also have someone else to help me get dressed. So yeah, again, I can’t dress myself.”
On making his unlovable character lovable:
“I’ll just briefly say this, it’s making the words on the page come to life. And James is super easy to work with in that regard. He’s such a gifted writer, he paints such a clear picture that you basically just don’t have to eff it up. Like he’s gonna make sure it’s what he wants and what he means.
“But I think those are the most interesting characters that we look at in our social circles. We always talk about that friend that like, you know, if he would only or she would only be alright. We never talk about, like, yeah, this person is doing great. It’s always the person that needs the most help that’s on our minds the most because we want to root for them. Because I believe in those circles, we see their potential.
“I think Peacemaker is no different. You see, there’s potential there and you want to reach through the screen and be like, ‘You can do it!’ I think that’s a lot of gravity towards why people are interested in Peacemaker.”