Though he didn't actually appear in the recent trailer, it's been confirmed that John Cena (The Suicide Squad, Fast X) will have a small role in the upcoming Barbie movie as "Merman Ken" - but it very nearly didn't come to pass.
During an appearance on Today to promote his return to the Fast and Furious franchise in Fast X, Cena revealed that he was actually "rejected" from a formal audition for the iconic fashion doll's first big-screen outing, but a chance encounter with star Margot Robbie led to him being cast in Barbie.
"It was a happy accident," Cena said. "I haven't worked with Margot before. We literally randomly ran into each other as friends. Fast X was filming across the street from Barbie. And [she asked], 'Why don't you do Barbie?' I said, 'I've been trying!' And Margot makes a lot of the decisions for that, and I said, 'Well, I'll do whatever you need.'"
“They asked me if I wanted to be a merman, and I said, ‘Yeah, sure.'”
Of course, Cena and Robbie both starred in The Suicide Squad, so perhaps he's referring to the fact that they barely had any scenes together? Or, he just has a really bad memory!
Anyway, let's hope we get a first look at Cena as a merman soon!
Barbie also stars Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Dua Lipa and Helen Mirren.
Directed by Greta Gerwig, the movie is set to hit theaters on July 19.