‘Hobbs & Shaw’ Star Roman Reigns Opens Up About Battling Leukemia

WWE superstar Roman Reigns made his comeback in the ring after his cancer battle and now he is starring in “Hobbs & Shaw” on the big screen. Roman and his co-star Cliff Curtis were in Hawaii with “Extra's” Terri Seymour talking about the film and his journey.

Roman, who is now in remission, opened up about his battle with leukemia, saying, "I made the announcement in October. The first couple of months, I just isolated myself at home with the family — that's where I went through the bulk of my struggles. The pains that I was going through, luckily God just kept an eye on me, he was favoring me… Around the holidays, I started to feel a lot better, my medication kicked in and started to do its job.”

He shot “Hobbs & Shaw" in Hawaii in January with his cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, explaining, “I had already auditioned, my tape was already out there. Dwayne was keeping tabs on me making sure everything was going good with the recovery and I let him know I was feeling a lot better. 'I think this return might come quicker than planned.' I had just wanted to take my time.”

Roman said he was planning on getting back in the ring in the fall. “To be honest, I felt great and I had that itch to get back in the ring and complete this comeback and he [Dwayne] said, 'What about this? Do you have time?' I said, 'I already auditioned for it, so if you are cool with it, I'm cool with it…' To be able to have that escapism and pull myself out of it and distract myself, it was such a blessing from God.”

He told Terri how he auditioned for the role of one of Hobbs' brothers without The Rock knowing, “He is so busy and my schedule is so crazy as well. When I heard about the project it just made sense, to be a part of something that is going to put our culture on the map… It was just a matter of lining up the schedules… I didn't want to rely on him.”

As for how he feels today, he said, “I feel excellent. God, I feel great! It's one of those things you just have to be truthful with yourself.”

Cliff is playing one of Hobbs' brothers alongside Roman in the movie, and he was singing Roman's praises. "It's hard enough sitting next to a guy, like, genetically right, then you find out he's a nice guy, he's humble, he's a family guy, very genuine.”

Also speaking highly of working with Dwayne, Cliff said, “Very gracious and generous… It was a very collaborative process.”