Wrestler John Cena brings smackdown to Crescent City

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on March 29, 2008 at 5:00 AM, updated December 18, 2009 at 9:03 AM

By Mike Scott
Movie writer



Wrestler John Cena started shooting "12 Rounds" in New Orleans in late February and filming continues through early May.

But Cena had been asked three times to sprint the same two-block stretch, past the Algiers Courthouse and toward that not-as-slight-as-it-looks incline leading to the Algiers ferry, for a sequence in which his character -- a New Orleans cop, hot on the trail of a baddie -- commandeers a silver '73 Camaro.

He was also, it just so happens, only 12 hours removed from an in-the-ring performance in Lafayette in which he and another grappler took on nearly every other wrestler in the building.

So, yes, Cena was sweating. Yes, he was drawing a little more wind than usual. And, yes, he was feeling the burn in his legs.

But he wasn't complaining.

The World Wrestling Entertainment headliner knows how lucky he is to be doing what he's doing, so he's willing to put up with a little sweat ringing the neck of his white T-shirt.

"You just don't get a lot of time to yourself," Cena said of his schedule, his voice every bit as deep as you'd expect an insanely muscular 6-foot, 1-inch frame to project. "But I'm doing two things I enjoy. It's not like I'm doing taxes or anything like that. I like it."

The World Wrestling Entertainment John Cena is in town filming the action flick "12 Rounds" in Algiers Point.

It's a good thing, too. First, because you probably don't want to be around a guy like Cena when he's surly. Second, because Cena will be bouncing back and forth between those two worlds -- acting and wrestling -- the next few weeks.

For example, over the course of the "12 Rounds" shoot in New Orleans -- which started in late February and continues through early May -- everybody on set knows Cena has Mondays off. Those are his wrestling days, where he jets off to perform live in the ring.

For the rest of the week, he does the film thing, shooting high-octane scenes in and around New Orleans, such as the recent segment in Algiers Point that saw him tear off in his borrowed Camaro and drive over the Crescent City Connection.

Then, on Sunday, it's off to Orlando, Fla., for WrestleMania XXIV -- the wrestling world's pay-per-view Super Bowl -- where he'll bring his patented "FU" finishing maneuver into the ring for a three-man match for the WWE championship, a title Cena already has won three times.

Win or lose, it's back in New Orleans next week for "12 Rounds" and a multiple-day "Speed"-like sequence involving a streetcar, a pickup truck and the closure of a portion of Canal Street in front of Harrah's New Orleans Casino.

Later comes a scene involving Cena, a speeding firetruck and the French Quarter. You can imagine how that turns out.

"That's what's great about the city of New Orleans: They've been so open to let us shoot," Cena said. "The last shoot I did (for 2006's 'The Marine'), we were in Australia. We didn't even touch the city -- it all had to be on set locations and, 'You can only do this block, and this block.' New Orleans has been open arms, man. Everybody here has been so giving and wanting a good movie to be made here so more business comes back. You can see it. It's fantastic."

One reason Cena's got so much schedule flexibility is that WWE, in addition to staging his wrestling matches, is the financial muscle behind "12 Rounds."

Feature film production is something of a new business for the company, headed by the colorful Vince McMahon Jr., and its track record proves it.

Its previous three theatrical efforts -- Cena's "The Marine," 2006's "See No Evil" and last year's "The Condemned," the latter two of which also starred pro grapplers (Kane and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, respectively) -- weren't well-received by critics. (Richard Roeper memorably called "The Condemned" a "fast-paced, well-made piece of garbage.") Likewise, box-office business was less than stellar.

There's at least one reason to believe that "12 Rounds" might fare better: Action-film veteran Renny Harlin -- who directed Samuel L. Jackson in 2007's "The Cleaner," Sylvester Stallone in 1993's "Cliffhanger" and Bruce Willis in 1990's "Die Hard 2" -- was brought on to direct.

To hear Harlin talk, "12 Rounds" might be the film that catapults Cena into a more mainstream brand of fame.

"I really think this is a movie that's going to make John a movie star, an action star," Harlin said last week during a break between shots on the set of "12 Rounds."

"We're concentrating on making it very realistic: nothing bigger than life, no superhero stunts, nothing that a normal guy who has the energy and stamina couldn't do. So I think it's going to really work on many levels and bring him down to kind of an Everyman -- a guy men can relate to, women can like, kids find appealing."

It's that last segment -- the kids, the 13-year-olds, the built-in audience that already idolizes John Cena the wrestler -- who might be most important to the success of "12 Rounds." So unlike the WWE's previous theatrical releases, two of which carried an "R" rating, Harlin's shooting the film with an eye toward a "PG-13" rating.

Penned by first-time screenwriter Daniel Kunka, "12 Rounds" -- which, despite the title and the leading man, has nothing at all to do with wrestling or boxing -- tells the story of a New Orleans police officer who, almost by accident, makes the biggest bust of his life. But before the criminal (Aidan Gillen of "The Wire") goes upriver, he vows revenge.

"A year later, after I've been promoted to detective, I kiss my wife-to-be goodbye and she leaves the house. I walk out of the house, I get a phone call from this criminal, and my house blows up," Cena said. "And that's where we start with, 'OK, I'm out of prison, I'm coming to get you, your girl is collateral, but I'm going to put you through these 12 rounds for what you did to me a year ago.' "

Gillen's character proceeds to send Cena's character, Danny Baxter, on a series of Sisyphean tasks around the city. That's where the streetcar comes in. And the firetruck. And any number of other conveyances that get crashed, crunched and otherwise torn asunder.

And for Cena, that's where a big part of the fun is. An admitted car nut, he does much of his own stunt driving in "12 Rounds" and wouldn't have it any other way.

"That's my choice, and I've been in enough wrecks to know if I can't handle it," Cena said. "So I try to get these guys to let me do most of it, because I'm much more comfortable behind the wheel than saying lines to the camera. That's what I enjoy doing, and I guess it looks good when you can see it's your guy behind the wheel."

So, in "12 Rounds," when you see the tires spin on that silver Camaro as it tears away from the Algiers ferry, you know it's Cena driving. And when you see it hauling across the bridge, you know it's him driving.

And when you see the 34-foot firetruck barreling through the French Quarter -- well, the smile on Cena's face when he talks about it says it all.

"On the testing grounds, I've had that thing sideways," he said. "I've locked up the brakes and had it skidding sideways."

That level of enthusiasm is part of what Harlin says makes Cena so much fun to work with, and part of why he things Cena will be a star.

"What I love about working with actors who are inexperienced is that their enthusiasm and energy is just so fantastic," Harlin said. "They're just game for everything. They're always there; they're ready to go. It's all just a new experience for them.

"I would imagine John is always going to stay like that because he's been in the wrestling game for many years and hasn't lost any of that boyish, young enthusiasm. And he realizes what most of us should realize: We are damn lucky to be doing what we are doing."


Ready for your close-up? Or at least your wide shot? The action film "12 Rounds" has put out a call for extras for upcoming scenes. Various types are being sought. Visit for details or to download an application.