John Cena Gives Travis Kelce Tips on Breaking Into Hollywood and Pursuing an Acting Career
John Cena successfully made the transition from WWE star to Hollywood actor and has some tips for three-time Super Bowl champ Travis Kelce if he plans to make the same move.
"I would inspire him to reflect on his journey," John, 46, told Entertainment Tonight in an interview posted on Monday, March 4. "He didn't become a Super Bowl champion in a year. I bet he started playing football at a very young age."
John reflected on his own journeys, both in becoming a superstar pro wrestler, then converting his fame into a successful Hollywood career.
"This is the one misconception that a lot of people have ... 'You were born for this.' I was not. I worked very hard and suffered a lot of setbacks and looked ridiculous and had a lot of failures," he recalled. "But I have a lot of people supporting me and I just never gave up."
"So, my advice to Travis is, should he choose another skill, look at how [long] it took to be fluent in football," John added. "It's gonna take that long to be fluent in another skill. Just surround yourself with great teammates and good things will come from it."
Travis, 34, began to show signs that his good looks and charisma translated onto the small screen when he starred on his own reality dating show, Catching Kelce, in 2016.
Following his Super Bowl LVII victory, the Kansas City Chiefs star displayed his comedy chops by hosting Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2023. He impressed cast members and the viewing audience with his charm and quick wit.
SNL star Heidi Gardner was impressed with how easily Travis slid into working on the sketch show. “It all seems overwhelming, but I was like, 'He’s used to this,'” she told retired NFL star Julian Edelman on his March 1 "Games With Names" podcast. “He probably gets adjustments from coaches all week longand then has to make those for the game. And he’s playing on a live game every week, just like ours is.”
Travis has already parlayed his fame into a number of TV commercial spots, including national advertisements for State Farm Insurance, Campbell’s Soup, DirecTV, Experian, Lowe’s and Pfizer. During the 2023 football season, he appeared in more commercials during NFL games than any other player or celebrity, with a whopping 375 spots airing.
The Ohio native has already made one major move into Hollywood, signing on as an executive producer for the film My Dead Friend Zoe. The dark comedy is described on IMDB as, "Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather at the family's ancestral lake house."
