WWE Star Randy Orton Says He Auditioned For A Major Role In This Marvel Comics Movie

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is one of the year's biggest movies, featuring a range of appearances by characters from previous Marvel projects under the 20th Century Fox banner. Although he was mentioned, one figure who notably did not appear was Cable. The time-traveling son of Scott Summers and Jean Grey was played by Josh Brolin in 2018's "Deadpool 2," but like any role, there were other actors who initially attempted to win the part. Appearing on "What Do You Wanna Talk About?" with Cody Rhodes, WWE star Randy Orton revealed that he auditioned to play the Marvel anti-hero.

"I read for Cable and, in my head, boy — I was gonna be Cable," Orton said. "I was like, 'This is it.' Nope. No callback, no nothing."

Orton acknowledged that Brolin wound up being excellent in the role and stated, with the benefit of hindsight, that he had no idea what he was doing at the time. The experience wound up having a profound effect on the way he viewed his primary career.

"I think I kind of realized, then, 'Oh, okay. I can send in these auditions, but I'm a pro wrestler,'" Orton continued. "And I think I really enjoy being a pro wrestler and everything it's given me. I don't think I'll ever leave this place."

Orton's opinions on acting actually haven't changed very much over the last decade — publicly, at least. Even in 2015, while doing press for "The Condemned 2," Orton was adamant that wrestling in WWE would remain his focus over acting, though he would continue to audition for occasional roles. According to Orton today, it seems he still harbored some ambition to break through, believing a turn as Cable could kick off a higher-profile acting career. It didn't happen for him, but Orton has since continued to find success at the top of the card in WWE.

While there is a short list of other major WWE performers who have made the jump to acting full-time, Orton has always placed more emphasis on wrestling. In 2021, Orton said that he would love to become a superhero onscreen, but following in the footsteps of John Cena and Batista to Hollywood would require him to take too much time away from his WWE career, which he then believed would come to an end sometime around the age of 50.

Additionally, Orton has seemingly had little desire to take time off through most of his lengthy career. With just a couple of exceptions, he avoided major injuries until 2022, when accumulating problems with his back kept him on the shelf for more than a year. Prior to his back problems, the longest stretch of time Orton had missed was a six-month period in 2016 during which he dealt with a shoulder injury.

Though 2020 saw Orton slow down the amount of matches he was working, he previously wrestled at least 59 WWE matches in every year since 2002, topping out at 211 matches in 2011. He was one of the company's workhorses for nearly 20 years, and it seems Orton was well aware of how important he was to WWE, choosing to stay focused on his work there.

While it looks as though he has by now happily left his acting aspirations behind, the 14-time world champion did build up a short list of film credits throughout the 2010s. Most of Orton's roles were in WWE-produced movies, such as the aforementioned "Condemned 2," as well as "12 Rounds 2: Reloaded." However, his last film credit was in 2019, when Orton appeared in "Changeland," a comedy from first-time director Seth Green.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What Do You Wanna Talk About?" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.