Often, people (myself included) like to lump in all of the former wrestlers who have become actors into one category. It’s easy to write them off as muscly meatheads who star in terrible action films and give cringey performances. While that sort of sweeping generalization might be accurate for most of them, it’s not the case for all of them. You would probably agree with me when I put Dave Bautista in a separate category from the large majority of wrestlers-turned-actors. And he’d definitely agree.
In a new interview with GQ, Dave Bautista talked about his aspirations when it comes to his acting career. Sure, he’s starred in some mindless action films over the years. But things really changed thanks to his role as Drax in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Since then, he’s turned in some surprising performances, most notably in films such as “Blade Runner 2049” and the recent “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story.” So, when you think of the gold standard of former wrestlers who break into acting, there’s a difference between what Bautista is doing and what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is doing, right?
Bautista is aiming to do very different roles in a variety of different films. Just this year, he’s starring in “Knock at the Cabin” (psychological thriller), “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (superhero), and “Dune: Part Two” (hard sci-fi). The Rock, on the other hand, just releases massive blockbuster action films.
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And when Bautista compares and contrasts his work with The Rock’s output, he may have inadvertently thrown a bit of shade.
“I never wanted to be the next Rock,” he explained. “I just want to be a good fucking actor. A respected actor.”
When you see that, you immediately think about the inference, right? If he wants to be the opposite of The Rock, and he says the opposite is a “good fucking actor” who is “respected” by his peers, then is he really just saying The Rock is a terrible actor who isn’t well-respected? Ouch.
I mean, this isn’t a huge logical leap to come to that conclusion. And you know what? Bautista isn’t wrong. Obviously, the respect thing is a whole different topic, but if Bautista wants to challenge himself with a variety of roles and especially more dramatic parts, then he should not follow the trajectory of The Rock. Dwayne Johnson has made a name for himself with a specific type of film. Big, dumb blockbusters that seem to make a lot of money (well, except for “Black Adam”), but they’re not in the awards conversation.
So, good for you, Dave Bautista. You keep doing what you’re doing because it seems to be working out pretty well. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see him earn an Oscar one day.