When writer and director Peter Farrelly, one half of the brotherly duo that delivered us There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber, was looking for the actor to star as the titular character in his latest film Ricky Stanicky, there was only one man for the job – John Cena.
WATCH: Ricky Stanicky official trailer. Article continues after video
“I was about two minutes into Peacemaker and I said, ‘That guy!’ I could not believe how hilarious he was,” Farrelly tells WHO during an online press conference. “I thought the way he committed to that character, it was a no-brainer. At that moment, I knew it had to be him.”
Luckily Cena, 46, wanted in on the madcap movie too. The film is about three childhood friends who invent a kid called Ricky Stanicky to help get them out of trouble. They keep up the elaborate pretense of Stanicky into adulthood, using him as a fall guy, until one day they have to introduce him to their suspicious families.
They end up hiring a raunchy celebrity impersonator ‘Rock Hard’ Rod (Cena) from Atlantic City who takes the role very, very seriously.
“For me, it was the concept of the whole thing,” Cena, who was joined by his fellow co-stars Zac Efron, William H. Macy, Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler, says. “How do you make an imaginary friend real? And then you read it again and again. And man, I never wanna tell the audience what to take away from the movie, but there’s just so much there that you can take away from the script and just the journey of everybody.
“I think you discover something new every time. Originally, I wanted to know how they’d pull it off. And man, it’s so beautifully written and then as you see it develop … every time I see it, I still take more stuff away. But that was the original thing that caught my eye.”
Cena jokes that his character taught him “what not to do” and “how not to live” but that his co-stars were definitely inspiring – and a major highlight of working on the film.
“[There was] good chemistry from the jump,” he explains. “Honestly, it just felt like a team from the first frame. So, I think that made it fun especially, too.”
Where to stream Ricky Stanicky
Ricky Stanicky premieres on Prime Video on Thursday, Mar. 7.
Stream it on Prime Video with a 30-day free trial. Subscribe here.
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