Four months after hitting the big screen, the action film “12 Rounds†starring John Cena was just released on DVD and Blu Ray June 30. Fans of the WWE superstar can purchase a special copy of the rated and unrated movie on a special “Extreme Cut†version.
Along with Cena, who plays a detective on the trail of an ex-con who has kidnapped his girlfriend, actor Gonzalo Menendez, 37, stars as Agent Ray Santiago, another special agent on the case.
 “12 Rounds†on DVD and Blu Ray includes two alternate endings, a “crash course†on John Cena’s stunts, a never-before-seen gag reel, and audio commentaries with Cena, director Renny Harlin, and screenwriter Daniel Kunka.
I spoke to Menendez when the film first came out back in March. Now, I speak to him again as the movie goes to DVD and Blu Ray. Menendez can also be seen as a guest star on the second episode of the new TNT series “Dark Blue†on July 22.
Are you keeping up with all your WWE episodes?
I’m trying to keep up with it. I have a wife and two daughters so I’m alone in the house in terms of wanting to watch wrestling. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of it. I like to see when John [Cena] wrestles. I like when Triple H wrestles. I like when Randy Orton wrestles. I like to see the drama play out between those three guys.
Yeah, I guess little girls wouldn’t be interested in wrestling. So, what do you sit down and watch with them instead?
I’ve got Dora [the Explorer] playing right now on TV. That seems to be a big hit for the two year old, but not as much for the 7-year-old anymore. But it’s cartoon central over here. We have it on Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., the Disney Channel, you name it.
At least it’ll keep you young at heart, right?
It does, yes. But right now I want to watch the U.S. Open but they have a monopoly on the television.
Are you a golfer?
Yeah, I absolutely love it. It surprises a lot of people how difficult it can be. To stand completely stationary and swing a club at a little tiny white ball into a four inch hole four football fields away is tough. I try to get out at least once a week or so. If my wife’s with the girls or they’re hang out at grandma’s house I’ll go out with a few buddies or someone I’ve met on the TV shows I’ve worked on and we’ll play.
So, let’s talk about this DVD. It’s an “Extreme Cut†version. What does that mean?
You know, I haven’t seen it so I don’t know what “Extreme Cut†means. Maybe [director] Renny [Harlin] cut in some more action or a couple more explosions. I’m just as excited as anyone else to know what’s on this thing.
Do you know of anything specific that might have been cut from your part?
From my part nothing got cut. But I know they shot a lot of footage like car chases and stuff like that. You just never know how much of that made it into the final film.
Does your 7-year-old know what daddy does?
Absolutely. She walks around all the time saying, “My dad’s an actor.†A couple years back we went to go see “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer†(Gonzalo plays a Lieutenant in the film) with some friends and one of my friend’s kids saw me in the movie and turned to my daughter and said, “That’s your dad in the movie!†She was like, “Yes it is.†It was pretty cool.
What’s next for you?
I got a show coming out in July. I did a guest spot for a friend of mine. [Director] Danny Cannon’s got a show out on TNT called “Dark Blue.†It’s a Jerry Bruckheimer show starring Dylan McDermott. Danny’s the one that first hired me as Clavo Cruz on “CSI: Miami†so he brought me on to do this second episode.