Director Vince Gilligan explains John Cena’s cameo on the latest episode of Pluribus.
Actor and WWE legend John Cena made a cameo appearance on the sixth episode of Pluribus, a post-apocalyptic science fiction series, airing on Apple TV. Cena appeared in an infomercial video to explain to protagonist Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) how the ‘Others’ (those who were affected by the alien virus) supplement their diet with ‘Human Derived Protein’ (HDP) from dead bodies of people who died of natural causes, since they cannot kill and eat any living animal or plant.
Speaking in an interview with Decider, the show creator Vince Gilligan and lead actor Rhea Seehorn explained John Cena’s cameo.
“Casting John Cena, I wanted Queen Elizabeth, but someone told me that sadly, she had passed away. So John Cena was kind of a second choice for us,” Gilligan joked over Zoom. “But he was great. We asked him, and thank goodness he said yes, and he’s friggin’ great at it.”
Rhea Seehorn then explained why John Cena was the perfect choice to deliver the news to the protagonist.
“I thought it was fun that you told me the discussions you guys were having about how the Others would have specifically picked who they think Diabaté thinks is a figure of authority to tell them that,” Seehorn said. “Cause for the video, he is asking for somebody that he thinks is the voice of reason. And he picks John Cena, which makes me laugh.”
Samba Schutte, who plays Koumba Diabaté in the series, noted that there was no better person to “justify cannibalism than John Cena.”
“I loved that it’s justified. And who better to justify cannibalism than John Cena?” he told Decider with a chuckle over Zoom. “I love that the twist, for Koumba, is a very rational thing. Like, yes, he doesn’t agree with it, but he understands. At the end of the day, we don’t want people to starve to death. They didn’t kill these people. So in a way, I guess it’s OK! Because they can’t pick an apple!”
John Cena Didn’t Understand The Context Of What He Was Filming
Speaking to Men’s Health, Vince Gilligan revealed why he chose John Cena for the role.
“And he said yes, thank goodness. We just thought, ‘Who is, simultaneously, the most random person to explain the eating of human flesh to Carol Sturka and the most interesting?’”
He also noted that Cena was so interested in the role that he was open to filming on a weekend, if they could get to him. So, the production crew rented a small soundstage in Tampa, Florida, to bring him in and shoot the sequence.
Gilligan also revealed that Cena didn’t fully understand the context of what he filmed, and on his way out, he said, “I can’t wait to find out what the hell it was I just said.”
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