Bautista has never been afraid to speak his mind. While Cena and Johnson come across as mild-mannered gentle giants, Bautista has already openly blasted Disney for firing Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. Many, many times. He made his displeasure known when everyone else was staying silent and criticised everyone involved in the decision. This time, though, Bautista is not fired up with outrage over someone else. It seems he is sick and tired of having his Hollywood career compared to his two fellow wrestlers.
Most people would be more than happy to have their film careers compared to blockbuster heavyweight Johnson. Bautista, however, does not want to be a star. He wants to be an actor.
He told the Tampa Bay Times: “Do not compare me to The Rock or John Cena, everyone does it. Those guys are wrestlers who became movie stars. I’m something else. I was a wrestler. Now, I’m an actor.”
To his credit, he has already had praised roles in Guardians and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 and will return in the director’s hugely anticipated Dune reboot, alongside a stellar cast including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardem and Oscar Isaac.
However, his way of delivering his thoughts is reminiscent of Guardians’ much loved Drax, who has no filter.
Drax died in vengers Infinity War but Bautista has already confirmed his return in Avengers Endgame. Although he has primarily starred in huge budget blockbusters himself, the former-wrestler dismisses other major franchise like Transformers or Fast and Furious.
Bautista said: “I want good roles. I don’t care about Fast and Furious or Bumblebee That’s not the kind of stardom I want.
“I want to be in Dune. I want to work with Denis Villeneuve. I want to work with Sam Mendes and Jodie Foster. I want to work with Academy Award winners. I’m proud to be a character actor. I want that respect and credibility and education.”
And then he delivered the final comment about The Rock.
Bautista said: “Rock was, in a way, a movie star before he was even a movie star. There is something about him that’s really special. I’d never take that away from him.
“Would I consider him a great actor? F*** no.”
The actor will return as Drax when Avengers Endgame hits the screen on April 25.