How John Cena’s childhood passion led to new film role – which forced him to confront his biggest fears

After the monumental success of Barbie in 2023, it was never going to be too long before Mattel dipped its toes back into the adaptation waters.

Films featuring several of the other iconic toy brands in the company's catalogue – from Polly Pocket to Magic 8 Ball – have all entered various stages of development, and there's even been talk of an adaptation based on the hugely popular card game Uno.

But before all that comes Matchbox: The Movie, a new thriller inspired by the titular brand of toy cars, which plays out a bit like a more kid-friendly version of a Fast & Furious movie.

Although it's not nearly as splashy a release as the aforementioned Barbie – this one is going straight to streaming on Apple TV rather than troubling box office records – it is also led by a major Hollywood star.

In this case, that's the former wrestler John Cena, who told Radio Times ahead of release that he owes one of his most passionate interests to this particular brand.

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"I became a car collector because of my experience with Matchbox, I believe," Cena revealed during an exclusive interview, explaining that his very favourite model growing up was a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 in "fire engine red."

"I grew up with four brothers, and we had to share a lot of our toys," he added. "So the reason I loved this 442 is because it was one of the faster cars, and I thought it looked really slick. And I would always pick it first.

"We always just would dump our cars in the middle, and you'd have to go through like a draft. And man, my brothers got smart to this, and they started picking it, knowing I would trade away my whole garage just to get that 442, and boy did I ever willingly trade away so many good cars just to get my favourite!

"So, the earliest core memories and the connection to anything transportation, my passion for that, I really think comes from playing Matchbox in the dirt with my brothers as a young kid."

Given that close personal connection, you might think leading the Matchbox movie would be a dream job for the former WWE star – and there were definitely sections of the film where that appeared to be the case.

"I always looked forward to the driving," he explained. "Those are fun days. I don't mind spending 12 hours behind the wheel pitching the car sideways and them saying, 'Can we try that again? Can you make it more aggressive?' Love that stuff."

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But though he clearly enjoyed the experience on the whole, there was one certain aspect of shooting the film that wasn't especially up his alley: doing all of his own stunts.

"The death-defying stuff. The, for lack of a better term, Tom Cruise stuff. I hate that with a passion," he said.

"I totally take my hat off not only to Tom but any stunt performer that runs toward that type of danger with the adrenaline of, 'this is going to be great.

"It just scares the living crap out of me, and to be able to lean into those fears and hopefully give audiences a better thrill ride, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it was worth it."

"I absolutely did not want to do it," he added. "But Sam [Hargrave, director] being a practical action guy and knowing the movie will be better if I see my star doing this, pushed the limits of the risks that production will allow in a safe manner.

"He wanted to push the performers, saying: 'Hey man, it would be a lot cooler if you tried this!"

For his part, Hargrave – who himself started out as a stunt performer and has previously directed the Extraction films starring Chris Hemsworth – described working with Cena as "a real pleasure."

"His work ethic and commitment to the craft is inspiring for everyone, especially me," he said. "He was a bit hesitant at first, but when I told him, 'My goal is to push you to be the best version of John Cena that you can be and that audiences have ever seen' he was on board and leaned into the challenge.

"And it was very challenging. But John showed up every day, did the work, trusted me and the team, and I think we really did push him to a pretty incredible place as a performer."

Meanwhile, one of the film's other major stars, Jessica Biel – who also enjoyed doing more action in the movie than she'd done in a very long time – was also full of admiration for Cena's efforts.

"He was facing a lot of fears," she said. "Doing a lot of crazier stunts that would have made anybody nervous.

"But he was very impressive in how he just like would launch himself off a building or hang from a helicopter. We were all just standing there, going like, 'There he goes! He's afraid of heights... how's he doing that?'"

And Biel was equally as impressed that, while combatting these fears, Cena was such a collaborative and strong leader on set.

"He was just really caring about what was happening for the crew," she recalled. "Was the crew okay? Were the hours good? Is everyone feeling okay? Is everyone feeling exhausted? How do we change that? How do we support that?

"He was really thoughtful about the rest of the cast as well. And that just makes a big difference when the lead of the movie is caring about those types of things and not just thinking solely about themselves."

Matchbox: The Movie is now streaming on Apple TV.

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