John Cena recently looked back at WWE choosing to embrace the mix of cheers and boos that he attracted from fans. The WWE star and actor spoke with Jesse Thorn on NPR’s Bullseye and you can see a couple of highlights below, per Wrestling Inc):
On the importance of vulnerability in a character: “The way you make any character interesting is vulnerability. A lot of characters don’t want to look weak. They’re afraid if they look weak, they won’t have the interest of the audience. You can look weak. What you need to do is connect with the person that you’re trying to communicate with. And a lot of that is the courage to be vulnerable.”
On WWE embracing the mixed reaction to him: “Two things can happen — you tell the people who are booing, ‘I hear you, and I don’t like you, and I’ve never liked you,’ and now you’re a bad guy. Or, you block them out. You pretend they’re not there and you keep going about your day. I was told to take the second path, but I did it under my own terms of smiling and remaining authentic to self.”
