Dave Bautista Credits Guardians’ Drax For “Opening Doors”
Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista credits his character Drax for changing his life…
Until recently, Dave Bautista remained one of the true enigmas in Hollywood.
A former wrestler (and one bout MMA fighter), the actor earned beloved status with his star turn as Drax in the original Guardians of the Galaxy.
Now, with the Dune reboot on the horizon and while currently promoting the Disney+ marketing campaign “The Streamer,” Bautista looked back and let fans in.
“For people to really understand how much my life has changed, they would have to understand where I came from, what I went through when I was in wrestling, what I left behind to take a chance on going into acting,” Bautista told IGN in a spectacular interview by David Griffin.
Bautista expanded the statement, saying, “I was broke… When I say broke, my house was foreclosed, I had nothing, man. [S]old all my stuff. I sold everything that I made from [when] I was wrestling. I had issues with the IRS. And I was just lost in everything.”
Before Guardians of the Galaxy, Bautista enjoyed numerous acting jobs. However, it was Guardians that changed his public persona.
When Guardians came out and people saw me as Drax, it just started opening doors… So Drax didn’t just change my career. It literally changed the trajectory of my life. My life just got better and I just became more successful. And that’s when things really just started to seem like surreal.”
The former wrestler also confided that before GOTG, he borrowed cash from friends to purchase Christmas presents for his children, buy groceries, and pay the rent.
But Drax made the difference.
“So it happened for me fast, which made it seem even that much more surreal. But it did; it changed my life,” he said. “It gave me a life.”
As for acting, if you want to see Bautista’s true range, check out Blade Runner 2049.
Therein, you can see the subtlety of the 275-pound, 6-foot-4 former wrestler. Now, with a role in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2, we might see that range yet again.
Back in May, Dave admitted to some nerves about the role in an interview with IndieWire.
However, Bautista also said he liked “the validation.”
“The cast was a who’s who, and I like being in that conversation,” he told Ryan Lattanzio. “This is why I was in this. I still aspire to be a great actor, and I don’t know if I can get there unless I get those roles that require me to be a great actor. So again, I’m just kind of stepping the ladder, but it’s very validating to get a role like this in a film like this.”
Check out Bautista in The Streamer, and look for him in Dune on October 22.
Feature Image: Marvel