GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Star Dave Bautista Wants To Be "A Respected Actor" Instead Of The Next Rock

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Star Dave Bautista Wants To Be "A Respected Actor" Instead Of The Next Rock

Guardians of the Galaxy and Glass Onion star Dave Bautista has taken another shot at Dwayne Johnson, revealing that he never set out to be the next Rock in Hollywood because he has greater aspirations.

By JoshWilding - Jan 05, 2023 08:01 AM EST
Source: GQ (via TheRingReport.com)

Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista found a great deal of success in WWE, but despite becoming one of the company's biggest stars, the time eventually came for him to leave. Why? Well, despite being one of the company's top Superstars, the man formerly known as "Batista" didn't believe he was being treated fairly. 

"John Cena and I were both headlining shows," Bautista recalled in an interview with GQ (via TheRingReport.com). "I was [the face of] SmackDown. He was Raw. But he was being used in [WWE-produced] films and television commercials and magazines, and I was just headlining shows."

"In fact, there was one point where he was off making a film and I was headlining both sets of shows and the pay-per-views. It was just a feeling of, 'We’re not getting equal opportunities.'"

So, off to Hollywood he went after choosing to leave WWE in 2010 following a series of failed negotiations. Admitting that acting wasn't the plan early on in his career, breaking into the mainstream became his goal, but it didn't come easy. After Bautista burned through the money he'd made in WWE, his house was foreclosed on, he sold his cars and bikes, and "lost everything."

"I had to start all over," he says, realising that direct-to-DVD movies beckoned. At first, anyway. "Before I left WWE, Stone Cold Steve Austin pulled me aside and said, ‘You’re going to get offers for horrible scripts. The money will be tempting. Don’t get caught in that trap.'"

After starring in The Man with the Iron Fists and Riddick, Bautista's big break came when he was cast as Drax in Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy. "I had to pull over because I was crying so hard," he says of learning he'd landed the role after months of auditions and rumours bigger stars had beaten him to it. "I turned right back around and walked into my house shaking to tell my wife I had gotten the role, and we were both standing there freaking out."

While superstardom soon followed, Bautista is now looking to move on from playing the Marvel hero because he wants to be remembered as more than just a comic book character. With that in mind, don't expect the Army of the Dead and Knock at the Cabin star to embark on a career that will see him tackle the same string of action roles as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. 

"I never wanted to be the next Rock," he states. "I just want to be a good f***ing actor. A respected actor."

Clearly, Bautista doesn't believe Johnson is either of those things, though this isn't the first time he's taken some shots at his fellow former pro wrestler. 

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SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 1/5/2023, 8:11 AM
Big Dave is definitely picking his roles better than the Rock for sure.
Also doesn't mind not being the main lead or part of the ensemble cast as well.

Hope Cabin in the Woods does well
dragon316
dragon316 - 1/5/2023, 8:17 AM
@SimplyAz - m night shamalan movie his moves are fifty fifty guess it’s depends how well ending is not dumb I not like beach
SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 1/5/2023, 8:24 AM
@dragon316 -

Let's hope it's one of the good ones
Blergh
Blergh - 1/5/2023, 8:34 AM
@SimplyAz - I have a bad feeling about Knock at the Cabin. It's a book adaption from Shyamalan after Blumhouse revived his career. But now he ditched Jason Blum and is with a different studio.

When there's no one to reel him in, Shyamalan tends to go overboard.
SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 1/5/2023, 9:04 AM
@Blergh -

Definitely some bad omens there as well.
RavingNightmare
RavingNightmare - 1/5/2023, 8:11 AM
For whatever its worth, I liked his short role in Blade Runner 2049.
JonAwesome
JonAwesome - 1/5/2023, 8:30 AM
@RavingNightmare - me too! I would love a short film about his character.
Blergh
Blergh - 1/5/2023, 8:31 AM
@RavingNightmare - he was good in that, I also enjoyed his performance in Dune. However...all these parts were rather small.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/5/2023, 8:12 AM
He takes chances with his roles, The Rock won't last forever. Juiced up clown
Shmokey20
Shmokey20 - 1/5/2023, 8:19 AM
@bobevanz - Calling him a clown, he's probably doing waaaay better than you in life 😏
TUD
TUD - 1/5/2023, 8:47 AM
@Shmokey20 - That depends on how you measure success. I'd be willing to bet bobevanz has never headlined a superhero flop and gotten kicked out of the Dc universe before lol.
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