In a Venn diagram, with ‘WWE Fighter’ scribbled into one circle and ‘Beloved Children’s Cartoon’ written in another, overlap would seem unlikely.
But wrestling champ John Cena is the perfect match for big-hearted bull Ferdinand, who would rather stop and smell the flowers than enter a ring.
Ferdinand has never fit in. He’s awkwardly large, while Cena, famous for his stocky build, is 6’1” and over 113kg. Ferdinand is bullied growing up. So was Cena. Ferdinand is an enthusiastic proponent of living your truth. Cena just wants you to be your best self.
During a brief trip to Dubai, the 40-year-old entertainer sat down with Gulf News tabloid! to discuss what it was like to voice the lovable character in the film Ferdinand — and why the original short story from 1938 has stood the test of time.
Ferdinand grows up in a world that tells him to toughen up — that boys have to act a certain way. Did you experience that growing up?
I’m in the majority of folks who were picked on as a kid, because there weren’t too many folks bullying — there were a lot more people being bullied. I didn’t look like everybody else. I didn’t act like everybody else. I didn’t talk like everybody else. I grew up in a house with four brothers, so I don’t think we were at a loss for doing things that would be described as ‘typical boys’ — but in the same vein, we were all very different and we caught a lot of flak for it.
Ferdinand is then pushed into the fighting world. He’s told, ‘You can’t be soft anymore — you have to be a machine now.’ As a fighter yourself, what kind of misconceptions do people have about it?
That it is pure fighting. We are storytellers, and we tell the story of good versus evil through athletic exhibition. So that’s the biggest misconception. Oftentimes, we are so good at what we do that people think that’s all that defines us. I love my experience at the WWE — it’s my home, they’re my family. The character who I am in WWE directly correlates to a lot of what I am in real life. But there’s a lot more to me than what you see, and that’s the entire story of Ferdinand.
What did you want to bring into this character when you first sat down with it?
So many times the big, larger-than-life, overly macho characters, it’s difficult for them to show vulnerability, because the goal is for them to always look cool and/or tough. Ferdinand is this larger-than-life specimen, but he’s so vulnerable and comfortable with his emotions, and it’s okay that he likes flowers, and it’s okay that he dances and helps his friends around the farm.
Why do you think that a film like this is important in 2017?
A film like this stands the test of time. You look back to the book, it’s been in publication for over 80 years, and the reason is that people continue to read it. The message continues to have gravity. The short story says, ‘As long as you are comfortable with you at the end of the day, you’ll be happy.’ The close of the short story is that he’s still sitting, smelling the flowers.
How was it to do voice acting for the first time?
It’s fun. Like everything, it has its challenges, but the biggest challenge for me was how was it going to look? Because it’s my first time doing anything like this. That challenge was made very small the first time I met [director] Carlos [Saldanha], and the folks at Blue Sky. They’re very good at what they do.
Did you get any pointers from them?
Just the ability to let your guard down. Be yourself, because they didn’t seek me out for any other reason other than they thought, ‘Oh, this guy could be Ferdinand.’ So don’t try to be anything but myself.
When you were in the booth, were you actually acting the scenes out?
Of course! You have to make sure you direct your sound towards the microphone, but there’s a scene in the movie where we chase after a train, and that was a full sweat. They film all this stuff so [that] they have it as point of reference. I guess it is what you make it — I mean, you can sit there and just talk dully into a microphone, but then they don’t have much to go with.
You have a motley crew cast of characters…
It’s an amazing cast.
It’s pretty cool. You have Kate McKinnon as Lupe, the calming goat, for example. Who was your favourite character, other than Ferdinand?
Lupe is my favourite, and that’s including Ferdinand. Lupe’s my favourite character in the whole movie. Kate McKinnon, obviously, is extremely funny. I think the concept of a calming goat, which is a real thing, and Kate McKinnon’s approach to Lupe — I just think everything about the character is so, so funny. She just knocks it out of the park.
I didn’t know calming goats were a thing, which brings me to my next question: what kind of research goes into a role like this?
Well, I mean, although the movie is based in Spain and the backdrop is Spanish culture, the story is about being yourself. And you have to think of like, well, did you hang around bulls? No, because I’m a talking bull, which is completely artificial anyway. Although it has cultural roots, and geographic roots, you don’t want to become too bound by those. You want to tell the story.
Would you do animation again?
Oh, yeah. It’s great. It’s fun, because it’s being creative. I’ll do most anything that includes storytelling, as long as the story’s good.
Are there any animations that you grew up on?
I mostly grew up as the Tom and Jerry generation, and stuff like that, but it just goes to show you how far animation has come and how big it is now.
It’s almost the end of the year. Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
Just to continuously try to be good with my time, to constantly tell the people around me that I love them and keep the perspective on life that I have now because it’s one hell of a ride and it comes only once. I’m very fortunate to be where I’m at.
Finally — why would you tell people to go out and watch Ferdinand?
Because it’s a great movie. Whether you’re a six year old kid or a sixty year old person, I think you’re going to laugh and you’re going to feel it right in the heart. It’s one of those things that gets at you.
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Ferdinand releases in the UAE on December 21.
