John Cena explains how a chance meeting led to him landing the role of Merman Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Margot Robbie stars in the upcoming movie as the iconic titular doll, who steps outside the safety of her home into the real world for the first time. Cena and Robbie are joined by a wide range of talented co-stars in Barbie, including Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Dua Lipa, and Will Ferrell, with Helen Mirren providing her voice as the film’s narrator.
As Cena promotes the soon-to-be-released Fast X, the actor reveals to TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (via Entertainment Weekly) that a chance meeting with Robbie during the filming of the upcoming Fast & Furious installment led to him taking on the role of Merman Ken. Fast X was filming close to Barbie, practically making Cena’s casting fate. Check out Cena’s full explanation below:
“I haven’t worked with Margot before. We literally randomly ran into each other as friends. Fast X was filming across the street from Barbie. And [she asked], ‘Why don’t you do Barbie?‘ I said, ‘I’ve been trying!’ And Margot makes a lot of the decisions for that and I said, ‘Well, I’ll do whatever you need.'”
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Will Feature A Number Of Kens
As Merman Ken, Cena is one of many recognizable stars to take on the role of Barbie’s male counterpart in Gerwig’s upcoming movie, just as how Robbie’s Barbie will be joined by other Barbie variants. Promotional material has featured Gosling’s Ken alongside Liu, Gatwa, Scott Evans, and Kingsley Ben-Adir, all of whom are playing a Ken. However, while Robbie’s Barbie gets along with the other versions, the official Barbie trailer showed Gosling’s Ken having an intense rivalry with Liu’s, to the point where the pair was ready to fight.
Gosling’s Ken will be one of the film’s central characters, joining Robbie’s Barbie in her journey to the real world with roller skates in hand while he grapples with his own personal struggle. According to Gosling, Ken has a difficult life, as the doll faces unemployment and homelessness at the start of Barbie despite his upbeat personality. As such, Ken’s journey alongside Barbie’s as she looks to find herself in the world beyond Barbieland could provide him with a similar opportunity to find his true calling.
Cena is just one part of an all-star cast that has led to Barbie being one of 2023’s most anticipated films. How the actors will all come together onscreen remains to be seen. Still, Cena’s story about his chance meeting with Robbie is a fun glimpse into how the production came together, and it sounds like it was a lot of fun.
Source: TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (via Entertainment Weekly)
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This story originally appeared on Screenrant
