John Cena recently had an interview with Digital Spy while promoting his new movie, Ferdinand. During the interview, he talked about a heel turn and more. Below are some highlights from it:

Fans wanting him to turn heel:

“So many times in WWE, the audience tells me – at the top of their lungs – that they want me to change. But over the years I’ve learned that, if I change, they’ll just rag on me about something else. I’m never gonna please them and, at the same time, I would be turning my back on those that I care about. So it couldn’t have been a better situation for me to be involved with this movie.”

Feeling fortunate on being able to choose his projects independently:

“I’m fortunate enough to be able to choose stuff that resonates with me, whereas before, when trying to help launch WWE Studios, I was pretty much told to just go and do these movies,” he explained. “The Marine [Cena’s first film with WWE Studios] was a fun ride, but as more movies got made, it was more like, ‘We need you to do this, we need you do that…'”

The story of Ferdinand:

“Ferdinand’s misunderstood and I think that’s a story that can carry on from generation to generation. Everybody says, ‘What a great movie – it’s so relevant now’ – they forget that the book’s 80 years old [children’s book The Story of Ferdinand was first published in 1936] and the story’s been told, and resonated with people, for that long.”