Dave Bautista Is Relieved That His MCU Days Are Over: “I Just Don’t Know If I Want Drax To Be My Legacy"

Dave Bautista is looking forward to the end of his Marvel Cinematic Universe tenure.

In the MCU, the wrestler-turned-actor, 53, plays Drax the Destroyer in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies (and one Christmas special)  — and he can’t wait to hang up his spurs when the third and final chapter comes out in May. It’s been fun but it’s time to move on.

Speaking to GQ, Bautista said, “I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over],” Bautista said. “It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy — it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”

By “dramatic stuff”, he was referring to his upcoming turn as a doomsday cult member in M Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, in cinemas next month. “It’s by far the most I’ve ever spoken in a film,” he told GQ.

“Just huge pages of monologues. We were shooting on film, which is very expensive. And we were shooting with one camera, so you don’t have the luxury of edits. It’s your only opportunity — you need a perfect take. It’s a lot of pressure. I want to remember my dialogue, but not at the expense of losing the emotion of the scene.”

Bautista is equally ecstatic about reprising the role of Glossu Rabban Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two, which marks his third movie with director Denis Villeneuve after 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 and 2021’s Dune.

“If I could be a number one [on the callsheet] with Denis, I would do it for f***ing free. I think that’s how I could find out how good I could be. He brings out the best in me. He sees me in a different light, sees the performer that I want to be. That might be how I solve the puzzle.”

At the end of the day, Bautista just wants to be known as a good actor. 

“Honestly, I could give a f*** [about being a movie star],” Bautista said. “I don’t live a great big glamorous life. I live here in Tampa. I don’t care about the spotlight, I don’t care about fame. I just want to be a better actor. I want respect from my peers. I don’t need accolades — I really don’t, man. It’s about the experience, about knowing that I accomplished something.”

Bautista is currently earning praises in Rian Johnson’s Netflix whodunit, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. “When I was writing [his character, a men’s-rights streamer named Duke Cody], I was picturing a scrawny dude who’s trying to overcompensate,” Johnson told The Atlantic. “When Bautista was brought up, I was instantly so smitten by the idea. I’ve been a very big fan of his dramatic chops as an actor.”

Johnson added, “And I think somebody like [Paul Thomas Anderson] is going to give him a real part and is gonna look like a genius. As a person, Bautista is genuinely, immediately vulnerable when you meet him, and that’s what I was excited about. This is someone who has the physical trappings of someone who would play it big, but he actually brings sensitivity to the role.”

Knock at the Cabin opens in cinemas on Feb 2, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 4 and Dune: Part Two on Nov 2.

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos

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