Kevin Hart has a new co-star for the second season of Roku’s Die Hart (aptly titled Die Hart II: Die Harter), and it’s none other than the WWE’s John Cena. While they definitely both have the comedic chops to spar with one another on screen, the casting is a reminder of Cena’s historic feud with Kevin Hart’s longtime collaborator and close friend, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Despite the two wrestlers’ past, one would assume that they have a lot in common, and Hart gave us the lowdown as to how they measure up against one another.
I recently spoke with Kevin Hart in anticipation of Die Hart II, and he drew the following comparison between The Rock and The Champ:
They’re both extremely hard workers, right? I mean, you’re looking at individuals – they don’t take anything for granted, maximize every opportunity that they can, and they want the most out of the business, right? They’re not in it to win small, they want the big wins.
There is no surprise here; just their workout schedules alone would take so much discipline that one has to imagine hard work is in their DNA. They also aim big, and both became box office giants after breaking into Hollywood. The fact that they made it out of the wrestling world at all is to be commended, as Hart continued:
(Wrestling) is a grind, it’s a brutal schedule. And for years and years and years, they stayed true to this machine and only a few make it out said machine. So to be a part of that conversation I think is big on both of their behalves. And to now be considered to be movie stars after coming from the machine, that’s a big deal as well.
So it seems that Kevin Hart has a certain respect for his two co-stars and their work ethic. He didn’t mention their complicated history, of course, but it’s charming to know that these two folks who were once at odds have so much in common. After all, to Kevin Hart’s point, it is very hard to fully make the jump from the WWE to movie stardom. Along with Dave Bautista, one could argue the three wrestler-turned-actors are the only to have successfully made it.
Although many aspects of wrestling are scripted, the feud between John Cena and The Rock was very real. It all started when Cena accused Johnson of not caring enough about the wrestling world at a time when his movie career was taking off. Given that Cena is now in a similar boat, he has since admitted that his comments were misinformed. He even credits The Rock for helping him nab his first big movie role in Trainwreck. Kevin Hart has his own feud with The Rock, but it’s more akin to Ryan Reynolds vs. Hugh Jackman, as the two friends simply troll one another online.
The fact of the matter is that all three of the actors are crushing it. The Rock has plenty of projects on the way, and you can see Kevin Hart and John Cena in Die Hart II: Die Harter on Roku (opens in new tab) March 31!