WWE’s Lana Talks Working With Bruce Willis on Cosmic Sin, Her Social Media Dominance

WWE Superstar Lana (real name C.J. Perry) returns to the big screen this weekend with the release of the new sci-fi action film Cosmic Sin. Starring Bruce Willis and Frank Grillo, the film sees “The Ravishing Russian” play the of Sniper Sol Cantos as she, Willis and a team of elite soldiers fight back against a hostile alien fleet on a remote planet before things break out into an interstellar war.

The film will be released on Friday, March 12 in theaters, VOD and digital platforms. Heading into its release, Lana sat down with ComicBook.com to discuss the film as well as her current work with the WWE.

Cosmic Sin gets released here on March 12 and looks like a ton of fun! What can you tell me about the film?

It’s an exciting sci-fi movie with Bruce Willis. Yes. Bruce Willis saves the day, of course. It was really exciting to be a part of a sci-fi movie. I’m a huge lover and fan of science fiction. So this is my first science fiction movie I’ve ever been in. So it’s really exciting. I mean, we’re fighting for our lives and to survive. We shot it right before COVID started. So it’s like a parallel of literally the world fighting for survival as well this past year.

We saw flashes of your character in the trailer, what’s her story?

Her name is Sol and it was really cool for me to be the role [of] Sol, because Sol was originally written for a man and it was a male role. I loved the role immediately because she’s a bad-ass. She’s really confident. She is an incredible sniper and she’s really tough. She’s a warrior. She’s been fighting for the survival of her kind for years, so she’s a little bit rough around the edges, but it’s just because she’s a warrior and sometimes warriors aren’t always the softest.

What are some your favorite science fiction movies?

I grew up on Star Wars and loved Star Wars, and The Mandalorian was incredible, Guardians of the Galaxy. Star Trek is probably my top.

You’re in the movie with Bruce Willis and he’s one of my favorite action movie stars. What’s your favorite film of his?

The Sixth Sense for me, hands down.The Fifth Element is also really great. There’s so many of his, but those are probably my personal two favorites.

Moving on to some wrestling topics. We saw you finally get revenge on Nia Jax by winning that Tables Match, then it wound up going viral for Jax shouting “My Hole!” What was your reaction to that whole thing?

I thought it was hysterical. I mean, the goal for me is to hurt Nia. I wanted… She tried to embarrass me for months. She put me through nine tables. She bullied me, she’s harassed me. Yeah, it is terrible that I hurt her hole so badly. To me, of course, it’s hilarious and it’s funny that at the end of the day, not only did I put her through a table, some might say I got really lucky, but I believe hard work and preparation, that is what luck is, preparing and working hard and it comes in all shapes and forms. In that time, it came with me moving out of the way and hurting her hole. We’re all laughing at her.

I feel like I was very happy with it. I was really happy that people were talking about it and talking about our match. Even if it was, maybe that was the conversation, well, if I wouldn’t have been there to move and cause that situation, we wouldn’t be laughing at her. I was really thankful. Not that I want people to laugh at people, but I felt like it was a good revenge.

How do you feel about your rivalry with Nia in general?

I feel so many things about it because I think when I first met Naya in 2014, I instantly… At the time I was managing Rusev and I was like, “Man, I want to manage this girl. This girl, I mean, gosh, she’s going to be a killer.” I wanted to manage her, I wanted to go into the story with her. It’s interesting that years later, I’m in a program with her and we’re telling compelling stories and we’re telling stories that people are talking about and are trending every week and that I am so blessed for it and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.

I think the importance in wrestling and in WWE and entertainment as a whole is being willing to evolve, being willing to take whatever opportunity is given to you and try to make a goal. I think that’s what we’re doing every single week and I’m excited and I hope it keeps on going. I think we’re just starting to scratch the surface and yeah, I mean, I know that she’s trying to compete with my TikTok by putting a lot of TikTok dances out. You never know what could happen.

You mentioned TikTok, and I’ve noticed you’ve got massive followings on Instagram and Twitter. Do other wrestlers ever ask you for advice when it comes to social media?

It’s interesting because I feel that people that I start to see change in their social media, usually they do and they come up and they ask me, but I think it’s my secret weapon. I think people don’t realize what the strength is on social media and also how more and more we’re moving into a digital era and a digital time and we can tell so many compelling stories through social media. I sometimes don’t tell other WWE superstars or pro wrestlers all my knowledge, because I think it’s my secret weapon. But if people want to come and ask me, I’m willing to share information, but I have definitely seen a change in even Natty’s [Natalya] stuff. Liv [Morgan] comes to me a lot for advice and even Naomi, but I feel like more and more, I have been able to almost let people not know that I’m smart and educated at some things because they underestimate me. I’m starting to think that’s one of my greatest superpowers.

Are there any mistakes you see other wrestlers consistently make on there?

… I think when we’re telling stories on Raw and SmackDown, I think our social media needs to be an extension of ourselves. A great example is my real life husband, Miro. When I was in the storyline with Bobby Lashley and [Rusev], I didn’t post Rusev on my Instagram, not one time. And if it was, it was in storyline and it was in-character.

I just see things that I think people shouldn’t do because we need to be extensions of ourselves on social media. We’re that character right now. I think now with the world’s global pandemic, we really can give an illusion of that character through social media because we don’t see fans all the time. It’s like we really can give whatever perception is reality. You can tell whatever story that you want. I think instead of looking at Instagram and TikTok and Twitter as a diary, I look at it more like a magazine. Like, “This is a magazine of Ravishing Russian Lana, and sprinkles of CJ in there,” when it’s appropriate.

You mentioned Miro, and one thing I know fans have noticed about his time in AEW so far is his fashion sense. Have you helped him with that?

I’m definitely the voice in his ear. I would say with that, I don’t pick out his outfits, but I told him he needed to step up his fashion game. I’ve tried to introduce him to a couple different stylists, but the one thing is he’s very stubborn and we have to do it his way. He’s picking out his outfits right now, but I think that he’s definitely come up. He’s trying, which is really important.

There was a lot of noise made last year about WWE’s new policy regarding wrestlers working with third-party brands. Some fingers were pointed your way because of the sponsorships you’ve had, but you emphatically stated you weren’t the cause of it. What were the conversations like between you and WWE when it came third-party sponsorships?

The reason why I stood my ground is because I had never heard any of that stuff. I had never heard that they had a problem with the things that I was doing and was the cause and the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back.’ I don’t appreciate when people come out there, so-called journalists come out and claim that I’m the reason for things when that’s actually complete false. I’ve been always in communication with WWE, always given them every single… Everything I do, I always get everything approved. I am, regardless of what people see me on screen throughout the years as the bad guy, the heel, the loud mouth, the drama, behind the scenes, I would say I try to do everything by the book. Because I deal with really bad anxiety and mental health issues and I just get too anxious if I feel like I’m breaking the rules. I was really… That’s why I stood my ground and I wanted to make it clear that, “No, that’s not true.” Ever since the third party thing, I never posted anything. I’ve always been in communications with talent relations and WWE office.

So there were no issues on their end up until late last year?

No, there’s never been [issues]. I’ve always been in communication with them. I mean, I was giving them Bang stuff since last year. And then different rules, change things change and that’s just a part of life. We evolve, we change and I’m excited to see where we’re going to go. I feel like I have a lot of things to bring to the table. I have a lot of knowledge about social media, about branding. I’ve been working in printing and modeling and all that. I mean, I’ve been in that sphere since I’ve been 18 years old. I’m excited to bring my knowledge to the table and help WWE grow and help talent grow. I think we’re just barely even scratching the surface. I think we can do incredible things and make a lot of money for everyone.