Imagine the massive John Cena squeezed into a tiny toy car. That’s a lot of squeeze. Fortunately, he’s not trying that.
Instead, he’s driving real big cars in the new action-comedy called “Matchbox: The Movie.”
John Cena [as Sean]: “First, I need to crash the plane.”
Sam Richardson [as Crosby]: “What did you say?!”
Jessica Biel [as Aimee]: “What?”
For John Cena, this story starts with a little piece of childhood.
“Matchbox: The Movie” takes those tiny cars from the toy box to a big screen adventure.
John Cena: “So lucky to be involved in a franchise that has literally been a conduit to my auto-enthusiasm. I unfortunately don’t have the cars I played with as a kid, but I remember those cars very fondly.”
But this film looks forward, not just back.
A dangerous mission pulls Cena’s character in, and drags his old friends along for the ride.
John Cena: “They put together a script where the Matchbox car is a conduit for nostalgia. It is what it is. It’s not anything more than friends getting put in an unreal situation and having to solve problems, and the conduit of, when we were all younger, man, this brought us together and it was a simpler time.”
John Cena [as Sean]: “I can’t do what I do and drag the Matchbox gang around with me.”
The action brings the excitement, but friendship is what drives the journey.
Cena says all five leads get a real chance to shine.
John Cena [as Sean]: “I work alone.”
Jessica Biel [as Aimee]: “Not anymore.”
John Cena: “This script has five strong lead characters that each go through their own journey and make you want to root for and care about them and I think that’s, that’s the heart of Matchbox.”
And shifting into this extreme gear definitely takes Cena out of his comfort zone while filming.
He faced a fear of heights to perform all his stunts.
John Cena: “I knew when I was going in what I was signing up for, and I was grateful for it. It didn’t make jumping off the building any easier, and still afraid of that. I didn’t overcome it, but I did get to face it, and, and those were days where I might’ve had to change my pants a few times.”
It’s the Matchbox we remember, just with a lot more under the hood.
Jessica Biel [as Aimee]: “You look big.”
John Cena [as Sean]: “Yeah.”
“Matchbox: The Movie” speeds into Apple TV Friday.
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