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When you think of John Cena, odds are you immediately think of the WWE wrestler. While that was a huge part of his career, Cena has also made quite the name for himself in Hollywood. Whether that is in TV series like Peacemaker, a character he first played in The Suicide Squad, or in comedic roles such as Blockers, Cena has indeed immersed himself into a new performance genre.
Despite only really being in the film industry for a handful of years, Cena's filmography is already substantial and includes many more upcoming films that are either in talks or in production. While comedy roles were a larger part of his early career, they have continued to help define Cena as an actor. His comedy roles include both supporting and main roles, and regardless of the role, he does his best to steal the attention when on-camera.
Films like Playing with Fire put him alongside a younger cast, while films like Trainwreck have him starring with huge comedic stars like Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. Roles like Daddy's Home were so popular for Cena that in the sequel, the actor got to see more screen time than in the first film. Here are John Cena's best comedy movies, ranked.
5 Playing with Fire
Playing with Fire stars Cena as a rugged firefighter turned parental guardian. Along with two fellow firefighters, played by Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo, the three grown men find themselves rescuing three children from a house fire. Until they can reunite the children with their parents, it's up to Cena, who is the station's captain, to take care of them. As most children, these are as rambunctious as young ones can be, which causes quite the stir for the firefighters. From accidents with nail guns to flooding the garage with bubbles, the firefighters find that they have taken on more than they could deal with.
One of the unique things about this comedic role for Cena is that Playing with Fire is family-friendly as opposed to the usual PG-13 or R-rated comedies he tends to star in. Between his screwball antics and his soft-sided moments, this movie is one of Cena's most underrated.
4 Vacation Friends
Vacation Friends is another comedic film that stars Cena alongside bigger comedic names. The film, which is also one of Cena's newest comedies, was successful enough to already spark interest in a sequel, which, per Screen Rant, has been officially greenlit. This film is a raunchy comedy that sports two different kinds of couples: straight-laced and wild.
As you can probably guess, Cena plays the husband of the wild couple who befriends the other while both are in Mexico on vacation. The straight-laced couple decides to let loose with their new vacation friends. After their vacation week has ended, the straight-laced couple returns home. A few months later, it's their wedding day and much to their horror, their vacation friends turn up and cause chaos. In this film's case, what happens on vacation doesn't always stay on vacation.
3 Daddy’s Home (1&2)
In Daddy's Home, the first film, Cena's role was small, with only a few minutes of screen time. That said, his character and performance were big enough to earn him a slightly larger role in Daddy's Home 2. The original film debuted in 2015, which was early on for Cena's film career. The sequel came out two years later, which gave Cena's character an actual name.
The general synopses of the films are: a step-dad trying to get his new stepchildren to love him and think of him as a father. Unfortunately, their biological dad, a "cool dad," returns home and threatens the stepdad's progress. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star as the battling dads. In the first film, Cena only appears at the end of the film as another "cool dad," which seems to set up the cycle all over again. This is exactly what it does for the second film only it goes one more step and brings in the grandpas too.
2 Trainwreck
Trainwreck is another early film of Cena's where his role is smaller but does a great job at setting up his future comedic roles. In this film, Cena plays the "boyfriend" of Amy Schumer's character, who is a woman that does not believe in monogamy — a lesson she learned from her dad as a child. There is one scene in particular with Cena, where he is at the movies with Schumer where you get to see his improv skills. In a featurette on the film, Schumer explains that she didn't have to write his lines in this scene, they were all from his mind.
This raunchy comedy may feature Cena in a small role, but it is definitely one of his iconic roles. Trainwreck itself is nothing short of hilarious moments from Schumer and Bill Hader, the two leads, and even some supporting funny roles from stars like Brie Larson. If you haven't already, this is a must-watch for comedy fans.
1 Blockers
At least for this writer, Blockers showed Cena in a new light, one where his comedy is more subdued. In this hilarious movie, Cena plays a straight-laced father of a teenage girl who joins forces with two other parents after they all learn their daughters have made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. With Cena, Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz star as the parents who spend the entire evening together trying to catch up with their daughters and essentially cock block them — hence the movie title, Blockers.
The film is full of plenty of comedic moments that include Cena being tricked into butt-chugging a beer, trying to interpret emoji symbols, and many more. From the moment the parents decide to "block" their children, they are taken on a chaotic adventure that is hard to stop watching. Being able to see the sincere side of Cena again, when he finally meets up with his daughter, just further helps to show the diverse actor Cena can be.