John Cena: Jackie Chan the standard for 'Jackpot!' action comedy

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- John Cena said comedic martial artist Jackie Chan sets the high bar for action comedy to which his movie Jackpot! , aspires. It will premiere on Prime Video on Thursday.

Cena, 47, plays Noel, a private security guard who protects lottery winner Katie (Awkwafina) from people trying to murder her for her winnings. In the film, California has made it legal to kill a lottery winner and keep their winnings.

"I hold someone like Jackie Chan as the standard bearer," Cena told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

Cena said he admired that Chan's action scenes have high stakes for the peril the heroes are in. Chan and Cena co-starred in the movie, Hidden Strike , released on Netflix last year.

In Jackpot! , Cena fends off swarms of aspiring millionaires in choreographed fight scenes. The unlikeliness of yoga students and tourists picking fights provides some of the comedy, along with Noel and Katie's one-liner reactions.

Cena said he hopes his films are judicious when joking about the threats their heroes face.

"Sometimes, when you tell too many jokes, you can erase the stakes," Cena cautioned. "There's always a joke to be had, but you don't want to tell a joke that ruins the stakes."

Jackpot! derives more comedy from turning the tables and forcing Katie to rescue Noel before the end of the day. Cena said he enjoyed "every single minute" of filling the "damsel in distress" role.

When captured, Noel is not entirely helpless, though. He fends off attackers while tied to a chair in one fight scene.

"I like the challenge of 'let's take the physical advantage away from you,'" Cena said.

The film also maintains a light touch with its macabre subject. Even though Jackpot! is about legally sanctioned murder, the film emphasizes the fun romp of evading killers to claim Katie's winnings.

As Katie's protector, Noel approaches his job with the joy of helping a person survive to realize their financial dream. Noel is paid a percentage of the winnings and uses that to help others.

"I'm supposed to be a maybe an ignorantly virtuous, larger-than-life, smiling face of hope in a place where there's not much faith in humanity," Cena said.

He also serves as the butt of some of the film's jokes, or rather the ear. Katie tells Noel his face looks like an ear, a line Cena confirmed director Paul Feig fed her privately.

"I won't see the jokes," Cena said of Feig. "I can hear them both giggling and I know something's coming."

Cena is currently filming Season 2 of his Max series, Peacemaker , and said he cannot share details. He also said he never got to see Coyote vs. Acme , the Wile E. Coyote movie Warner Bros. Discovery decided not to release .

He continues performing in the WWE, where he's wrestled since 2001, between movie and television projects, adding that the advantage of wrestling is the immediate reaction of a live audience.

"If it's going bad and an audience doesn't understand a bit, you have a chance to change it," Cena said. "It runs more parallel to stand-up comedy than moviemaking."