Barbie: John Cena Says His Agency Tried To Talk Him Out of Cameo

Greta Gerwig's Barbie was the highest-grossing movie of 2023, Warner Bros.'s highest-grossing movie of all time, and is a top contender this awards season. The film received eight Academy Award nominations and has won some exciting awards on the road to the Oscars. Barbie features a stacked cast led by Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling (Ken), and when all of the famous names were revealed, the Internet had quite a field day. One big star who had a cameo in the film was wrestler-turned-actor, John Cena, who played a mermaid Ken in the film. Cena's role is brief, but it's brought many fans a lot of joy. Turns out, Cena was advised against taking the part. While appearing on The Howard Stern Show, Cena revealed his agency tried to talk him out of appearing in Barbie. 

"[The agency is] just going on what they know, and what they know is, 'This entity, this commodity gravitates towards these things, we should stay in this lane,'" Cena explained. "But I'm not a commodity. I'm a human being, and I operate under the construct of every opportunity is an opportunity."

"I read the script of the movie and I tried my hardest to be in it," Cena added. "Margot [Robbie] was like, 'We'll make you a mermaid. You'll be in it for half a day.''Yeah, sure. But I think the perspective from an agency standpoint was, 'This is beneath you,' which I get that. But also to the agency's credit, immediately they acquiesced."

"I was like, 'No we're going to do it,' but all they can do is offer their guidance. They're not ultimately making the choice," Cena explained. "And their guidance is, 'Hey, truly, trickle-down economics from this might take you out of these lead leap slots.' And I get all that. I've always operated under the philosophy of good work gets you another chance."

Will Barbie Get a Sequel?

Considering Barbie's success, it's no surprise people are wondering if the film will be getting a sequel. Director Greta Gerwig recently played coy when asked about a Ken-centric follow-up, and Gosling jokingly shared some ideas about what a Ken sequel could be about. During an interview with Variety, Robbie addressed the potential sequel or Ken spinoff.

"It's funny, that knee-jerk reaction in this day and age for everyone to immediately ask about a sequel. I don't think it was like that 20 years ago. This wasn't designed to be a trilogy," Robbie explained. 

"Everything went into Barbie – and that's how Greta works," she continued. "She finishes every movie on empty, feeling like she could never make another movie because she put everything she had into that one. So I don't know what it would take to fill that cup up again for her. Or for us. I think Warners would also agree. I don't know what more could even look like. We want to make more films that have the effect that Barbie has. I don't know if it has to be Barbie 2. Why can't it be another big, original, bold idea where we get an amazing filmmaker, a big budget to play with, and the trust of a huge conglomerate behind them to go and really play? I want to do that."

Barbie is now streaming on Max.