John Cena ate 40 empanadas for 'difficult' The Suicide Squad stunt

John Cena has disclosed his most challenging moment while filming The Suicide Squad was consuming 40 empanadas in a single take.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the wrestling icon-turned-actor shared a photo of himself struggling to eat the 37th empanada for the scene, in which he had to down a vast number of the savoury pastries in his role as a dorky supervillain named Peacemaker.

Indicating the image, which showed him in superhero costume while slumped in a chair looking dejectedly at an empanada, Cena told Fallon: "the stunts were incredible, and filming the movie was treacherous, but that, right there, is the face of defeat."

He explained: "It was one big take, because the horribly beautiful, corrupted mind of (director) James Gunn operates in so many intricate pieces and he wanted this big, giant take."

Confessing: "I had to do it 40 times, and nearly made myself sick," Cena admitted: "that was my most difficult stunt in The Suicide Squad."

A standalone sequel to 2016's Suicide Squad, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad will star Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Idris Elba, and Peter Capaldi alongside Cena. It is set for release in August.