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Inside Fast and Furious 9’s OTT garage: John Cena, Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron are joined by a multimillion-dollar line-up of luxury cars from Mustangs to Lamborghinis and Ferraris

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WWE wrestler John Cena joins the cast for Fast and Furious 9 along with an outrageous lineup of rare and ultra-fast cars. Photo: @jtillervision/Twitter
WWE wrestler John Cena joins the cast for Fast and Furious 9 along with an outrageous lineup of rare and ultra-fast cars. Photo: @jtillervision/Twitter
Fame and celebrity

  • Cars include a Bugatti Veyron, Bentley Continental, Rolls-Royce Wraith, TVR Sagaris, Lexus LFA, Lotus Evora, Mercedes AMG GT R, McLaren 720S and Apollo Intensa
  • Michelle Rodriguez, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ludacris and Helen Mirren hurtle around the globe from the US to Azerbaijan and even into space

Imagine ordering a limousine pickup at the airport and John Cena shows up as your driver. It’s something a number of people got to experience before Cena was famous, when he worked as a limo driver. But a lift from the man who would become the most decorated professional wrestler of all time – and a fan of K-pop, apparently – was not as thrilling as it sounds. 

“I was not a good limo driver – on my first pickup, I was three hours late,” the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar said recently on a video call from Los Angeles. Just out of high school and living in Massachusetts at the time, Cena had “never travelled” and was unfamiliar with the routes wanted by the client waiting at Boston Logan International Airport.

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John Cena in Fast and Furious 9. Photo: @NZStuff/Twitter
John Cena in Fast and Furious 9. Photo: @NZStuff/Twitter

“I was just taking the wrong road over and over and over again,” he said. “This was 1995, so there were no mobile phones, so I couldn’t call anybody and go, ‘Yo, I’m lost.’ I was just late.”

His stint at the limo company ended after four months. But Cena has improved his lot rather considerably since. When Fast and Furious 9 debuts in cinemas across the US on June 25 (having already been released in May across Asia), the 44-year-old actor and entertainer will join the US$5 billion franchise as Jakob Toretto, the long-lost brother and current arch-rival of Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel). Where wrestling fans are used to Cena being the good guy, Jakob Toretto holds a grudge … and then some.
John Cena in Fast and Furious 9. Photo: @guymrdth/Twitter
John Cena in Fast and Furious 9. Photo: @guymrdth/Twitter

“Sometimes we are estranged from our family for such a long time over the smallest and insignificant things, just because we have a different perspective,” Cena says, hinting at the potentially lethal antics of his petulant character.

The series, known for its wild car chases, video game-style fight scenes and over-the-top stunts, sees the return of director Justin Lin, who oversaw chapters three through six of the series and effectively translated it into a global blockbuster. This time the story finds Diesel and his team – Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Mia (Jordana Brewster) and Han (Sung Kang) – hurtling around the globe from Central America to Azerbaijan, and even outer space.

Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in a scene from F9. Photo: Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures via AP
Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez in a scene from F9. Photo: Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures via AP

The chase begins after they discover that the plane carrying Mr Nobody (Kurt Russell) and the villain Cipher (Charlize Theron) has gone down in the Central American jungle. Cipher, fans will recall, first appeared in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, while Mr Nobody first appeared in 2015’s Furious 7. Then Jakob gets involved, hunting an object that Diesel and his team must ensure he never obtains.