Zac Efron says he's excited after John Cena's praise for 'Iron Claw', admits his approval is 'everything'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Zac Efron has received a heartfelt praise from John Cena for his role in the wrestling drama 'The Iron Claw.'

While discussing their collaboration in the upcoming comedy 'Ricky Stanicky', Cena gave his genuine compliments for Efron's portrayal of a real-life wrestler in the wrestling drama.

John Cena says Zac Effron did an 'excellent job' in 'The Iron Claw'

During the conversation with ET, Cena spoke about Efron's performance as he said, "It was a real good treat to be able to go to the premiere of Iron Claw and see Zac do his thing -- especially from a lens that I'm familiar with."

"He did an excellent job," he added.

Efron shared his excitement following Cena's approval of his performance which means "everything" to him.

"There's something special about when John's like, 'I know what you went through for that,'" said Efron. "Not many people get it, so it's nice. It's pretty epic," he added.

Zac Efron opens up on 'having fun' filming 'Ricky Stanicky'

Reflecting on his transition from the intensity of 'The Iron Claw' which narrates the real-life story of the Von Erich brothers to the Peter Farrelly directed 'Ricky Stanicky', Efron said, "I didn't realize how much it was affecting me until I got back on set with these guys and started having fun again."

"I was like, oh man, I'm enjoying this process," he added.

He even got to try out some of his newfound wrestling moves in a fight scene with Cena.

"I had to, like, throw him at one point and... I literally put no effort into it and he flew across the room into a shelf and took a hit," Efron recalled.

"It was amazing. He did it, like, 10 times, no complaints," he added.

When asked if the duo would ever take it to the ring together, Cena laughed saying, "No, 'cause I would talk him into doing Wrestlemania or something stupid like that."

In the upcoming comedy film, Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler play a trio who has been close friends since high school.

Set against the trio's longstanding friendship, the Prime movie adds a comic twist as they weave their way through imaginary escapades involving the titular character, Ricky Stanicky, a character the trio made up to use as an excuse for them to skip work and obligations at home.

'Ricky Stanicky' is set to stream on Prime Video on March 7.