Popular wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista seems to be everywhere these days. The actor has gained widespread recognition for roles in top movies like Dune, Glass Onion, and the Guardians of the Galaxy series. Bautista recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss his recent film Knock at the Cabin.
In the interview, the actor revealed that he rarely reads the entire script for any of his roles. His reasoning for this is both down-to-earth and endearing.
Dave Bautista: From wrestler to in-demand actor
While Bautista started out as a professional wrestler, he has proven himself to be a talented actor. His performances have shown his impressive range, playing everything from intimidating action heroes to emotionally vulnerable roles.
His breakout role was as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy, who he went on to play in six more films. 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be his seventh and final appearance as the character.
In 2022, Bautista starred in Glass Onion, the highly anticipated sequel to Rian Johnson’s hit film Knives Out. The film presents a new mystery and placed an entirely new set of characters around Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc. Bautista joined the ensemble cast that included Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Jessica Henwick, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, and Madelyn Cline.
While the new mystery in Glass Onion was complex with unexpected twists and turns, Bautista admitted to Fallon that he didn’t read the entire script for the film.
The actor says he likes to be surprised
When Fallon asked Bautista if he’d read the entire script for Knock at the Cabin, the actor explained that he had to for that film because his character was very involved in the ending. Fallon said he read that Bautista didn’t read the end of the script for Glass Onion. Bautista, laughing, admitted that he didn’t read the ending of that script because he was a fan.
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He explained that since his character in Glass Onion wasn’t involved in the ending, he wanted to “watch it like a fan.”
“I am guilty of not reading the endings of scripts of movies I’m in,” Bautista said, adding “I hope [director Rian Johnson’s] not pissed at me. I totally didn’t. I’m a fan! If I’m not involved in the end, I want to go and I watch it like a fan.”
Bautista went on to say he could get a sense of what he needed to portray characters without reading endings. He assured Fallon that he knew his dialogue and he was a professional. He just wanted to be surprised.
Dave Bautista’s latest role in ‘Knock at the Cabin’
According to Screen Rant, when M. Night Shyamalan’s team reached out to Bautista, he said “I fanned out. I fanboyed for about an hour.” When he spoke with Shyamalan on the phone, the director said he had a role for Bautista and asked if he’d be interested. After reading the script for Knock at the Cabin, Bautista was sold.
Knock at the Cabin, adapted from Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin at the End of the World, tells the story of four strangers who show up uninvited to a cabin and take the family they find there hostage. Bautista explained that one of the family members has to be sacrificed to prevent the apocalypse.
One major change from Tremblay’s book was the character Leonard. He was changed from being a younger man to being an intimidating man in his 50s so Bautista could play the role. Screen Rant says the provocative themes of the film are aided greatly by Bautista’s outstanding performance.
