'Legitimate Genius' John Cena Shocks Director and Co-Star Jackpot

Jackpot, produced by Prime Video, is set in 2030, when California, on the verge of bankruptcy, sets up a massive lottery. The catch is that you must kill the winner before sundown in order to legally claim his multi-billion dollar jackpot. Directed by Paul Feig, it stars Awkafina as Katie, a former child star who inadvertently wins the lottery, and John Cena as Noel, a freelance bodyguard for lottery winners.

Speaking to Fandom, Feig and Awkafina described their collaboration with Cena as surprising and not knowing what to expect as new collaborators. Feig even called the former WWE Champion a “genius.”

“You don’t expect that side of him,” Feig said. “He’d be like, ‘Oh, I have to, you know, in between takes, I’m learning to play jazz piano in my trailers.’ Sure, man. He’s such a smart guy. I love him to death.”

When asked about their chemistry, Akwafina agreed. “Yeah. I mean, John is really, really professional. You know he's going to show up on set, and you think he might be really serious, and then you find out he's really funny.”

The actress added that Cena surprised her by bonding over their favorite books. “We had these conversations [where] We talked about our favorite books and the books he reads, he reads a lot. And I love getting to know him.”

Cena credits Feig for being so good at creating that level of chemistry between Noel and Katie, for structuring the humor and coming prepared with alternate jokes in case the initial ones didn't work the way he wanted them to.

“He uses so many alternative jokes, there's a whole blooper reel and you have to make sure that your audience stays for the credits because the jokes are in the whole credit sequence. But the fact that he brings so much raw humor, like nothing is off limits with him. So that first sheet of paper that he comes in with alternative jokes, the jokes are so raw that everyone lets their guard down from day one, I think that helped a lot. So Paul is an incredible human being, but it was a really good stance as a director to take to [Awkafina] and me, that's for sure.”

Jackpot is available to stream on Prime Video.

Additional reporting by Bailey Myers.

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