Randeep Hooda on working with John Cena: He is a much better actor than what people make him out to be

Randeep Hooda opens up on his international film stint, working with John Cena in Matchbox: The Movie, reunion with Sam Hargrave and his next directorial plans

Randeep Hooda took another step in his international acting career recently as he featured in Matchbox: The Movie, which reunited him with his Extraction director Sam Hargrave and marked his first outing with wrestler-turned-actor John Cena. All praise for John Cena, Randeep Hooda tells us, "He is quirky on social media, but while working, he is very concentrated. He is a much better actor than what people make him out to be. I got to witness it in person by being with him in a scene. We found our common inspiration in Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Randeep Hooda with John Cena (Photo: Instagram)

The actor-director also recalls talking about Cena's Indian fandom during the shoot. "John loves India, and he is aware of the great following he has here. We discussed his much-talked about blue suit that he wore here. Indians relate to him due to WWE. While we were shooting, he went to have one of his fights, and it was surreal to know that. He has fans in India from age 8 to 80."

Matchbox also marked Hooda’s reunion with his Extraction (2020) director Sam Hargrave, and he was quite excited about that prospect while taking up the project. “It was great uniting with Sam again after Extraction. The kind of action and great character that he gave me was absolutely something and I really enjoyed doing it. The whole lot of people from Extraction were there on Matchbox, so it was like a reunion after a long time,” he says.

This year, Hooda received his first National Film Award, that too as a director for Veer Savarkar. Has the win now pushed him more towards the direction side? “Acting remains, and it always will remain my first love. But the canvas or the expression as an artiste that you get as a director, is absolutely thrilling and one filled with so many different art forms that come together into one. So, while acting remains the first love but direction gives you a different kind of wings,” he responds.

Ask him if he has locked his next directorial script and Hooda shares, “I have written a couple of scripts and I'm still trying to figure out how I work with already written scripts as a director, but all in due time. As a producer too, I am going to be taking up a few projects as well. This pat on the back [National Award] definitely makes you want to experiment with it more, play around with it more. But the scripts are underway, they're almost there. As soon as I feel that they're ready, I'm going to take up the baton as a director again. But till then, and forever, acting remains my first love.”