Dave Bautista Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 interview
“All this attention and the spotlight is very uncomfortable for me. When we’re walking down the red carpet and they’re saying, oh, this is great. And I’m like for me it’s not. I enjoy it. I don’t hate it, but at the same time it’s just overwhelming for me. And I think a lotta people have a hard time relating why that would be overwhelming, especially when they look at what I’ve done for a living, you know, with wrestling and everything being out there in the spotlight. I did it, 'cause I love it. I was passionate about it. That doesn’t mean I was always like super comfortable. I did it because I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and pursue my dreams, which is terrifying.
I totally respect that about Dave Bautista! It's very encouraging to see someone step outside of his comfort zone and do what he loves. You can't be successful if you don't chase your dreams, my friends!
Dave Bautista is not Drax – at all.
As mentioned, Dave Bautista is nothing like Drax. He doesn't want to stand out.
“Drax is definitely not who I am. He’s big and boisterous and a little bit egotistical and proud. I’m just, not that. I’m much more self-conscious and understated. Especially when, you know, Drax starts laughing. It’s just so big and ridiculous. “
Dave Bautista does not laugh like Drax. Sorry fans, it's not his real laugh. He has more of a cute little chuckle.
Bautista's honest reaction to Drax being the “funny guy”
Not everyone is going to be crazy about a role. Sometimes the script isn't exactly what they'd like it to be, but they still put the work in because they trust the creators. That's exactly what Dave Bautista did with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
“When I first read the script, I wasn’t crazy about it. This was my initial reaction. When I get a script I go over my dialogue first. So, I read over my dialogue and I was expecting them to go a different direction with Drax. I thought he was gonna be more of the destroyer. I thought he was gonna be a more comic book Drax and then I realized they were digging more into the funny bits. I don’t find myself funny at all, so when I was reading these lines I was like they’re not funny.
And then the first day we did our table read, I realized it was hysterical. And then I had a completely different outlook on it as a whole. Yeah.”
Okay, we all gasped because Drax has the funniest role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In fact, after watching this film I firmly decided that Drax was my favorite character, with Yondu as a close second. He's hilarious. I laughed so hard that I literally was on the verge of tears at times. The group of 24 other bloggers and I all blurted out how he was very funny in this role. We felt that he needed to know how well done he was.
“Then I read the full script, and I thought, wow, this is really a great script! It’s deep. It’s emotional, but I still was a little bit disappointed about my part.”
He may have been disappointed but we weren't. Not one bit. After the premiere, we were all talking about how hilarious he was and I heard quite a few people mention how Drax was their new favorite character. I think it's safe to say that James Gunn did the character justice. You can still be a destroyer and be funny. I mean, Chris Pratt is a badass as Star-Lord and he's pretty damn hilarious.
How did he feel about the film as a whole?
Now that we know how he feels about his part in the film, we need to know what he thought about the entire film.
“I think it’s beautiful. I like it better than the first film. It’s weird. It’s one of those things I feel like the more and more we get into the film, the more I am sucked into it and there’s certain moments, I just sniffle up. I just get so emotionally invested in this film. I felt that the first one was fun and exciting and some parts were very emotional, but not like this one. I felt like I was just totally absorbed in this film.”
Me too, Dave, me too. I got all sorts of feels with Vol. 2. I mentioned in my Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 review, that I felt just as emotional as Mantis.
Dave Bautista talks about his insecurities
Yes, he's a big, broad man with what appears to be loads of confidence. However, the reality is that he doesn't really like to see himself onscreen. It makes him very uncomfortable.
“As far as watching myself on film, I cringe. I don’t like watching myself on film. It’s uncomfortable. And last night at the premiere, every time I was on the screen like and I knew I was going to say something, I put my head down and just tried to get through it.”
It's funny how different everyone is. I personally give me full attention to the film when Bautista is on. He's a true talent and definitely the most humble man you'll ever meet. Like I said, he's the complete opposite of Drax.
While some actors see a character on the screen, Bautista still sees himself.
“I have not gotten to that point. Eventually I will, but right now I see me and I’m still judging myself. It’s just something that is hard for me to do.”
Dave Bautista's hope for the future of Drax
There are a few little moments in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 that make you wonder if Drax is ever going to get into another relationship? Would that hurt the entire view that an audience has of Drax? While I'm the biggest hopeless romantic, I think it's important to stay true to the heart of these characters. Dave Bautista comments on the subject.
“If I can have input on it, I would say no, because it’s the root of who Drax is. Drax lives for his heartbreak. You know, he’s just too heartbreaking. I don’t think he’ll ever have a romantic connection with anyone.”
As far as getting more into the story of Drax, Dave hopes James Gunn digs dipper into the story of why Drax is, who he is. I absolutely agree. I didn't read the comics, so I only know what the movies have taught me. I'd love to see a more developed side of Drax.
“If I had some input in it, What I’d really love is for people to have a visual – a name to put with a face. And I’d love if they would actually show Drax’s family; some of the race of beings that he comes from. I’d like to see more Drax, more people with different tattoos and just that race of people. I really think it would be great if the audience could just have a visual of Drax’s family. But as far as storylines, yeah, I have no idea on that. “
Dave announces the Guardians will be in The Avengers
I'm pretty sure we all lost our breath for a minute when dave Bautista casually mentioned that the Guardians will be in The Avengers. “I can tell you this. We’re in the Avengers.” We tried to pry some information from him, but he couldn't say much. However, he told us as much as he possibly could. I am so excited to see Drax interact with characters outside of the Guardians!
“My fear going into Avengers was that they were gonna try to make us into characters that we weren’t, they were gonna take their idea of the Guardians and try to go with that and not let us be James Gunn’s Guardians. And it was completely opposite.”
Phew! That would have been a complete disaster!
“We had the luxury of James doing a lot of the writing for us. And also when we showed up the Russo brothers was encouraging of us being our characters. And a lot of times, we just bounce off each other. Chris hardly ever says anything that’s actually on page He says it a bunch of different times and a bunch of different ways. So, that’s just the way we do things. We bounce and we’re very flexible. And they were just very encouraging of just letting us do things our way. They just let us be ourselves, man. It was great!
More mention-worthy moments from our Dave Bautista Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Interview
- The creators would call all the actors to watch playbacks for scenes in the film, but they wouldn't bother calling Dave because they knew he didn't like watching them.
- On the first film is took them 4-6 hours to get Drax in full makeup, but on Vol. 2 it only took 1.5 hours. In the first film they used sheets of silicone and in this one, they use glue transfers.
- There is a lot of great chemistry on set. Drax comments on Chris Pratt, “I think sometimes he’s just hysterical without even trying!”
“They knew I was a little awkward and they kinda accept that about me.”
– Dave Bautista talks about working with the cast of GotGVol2
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