David Michael Bautista Jr. has been in the public eye since he joined the main roster of World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002. Like most actors in this corner of the industry, he’s primarily known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’ll be the first to tell us, however, that he has so much more to offer.
It’s genuinely unfair to put Dave Bautista into the box of “wrestlers-turned-actors.” It’s objectively accurate, he’s a six-time world champion who competed in some of the most iconic moments in the franchise over his 17-year career. However, the term carries certain unpleasant connotations. John Cena and Dwayne Johnson are the two poster boys for this all-too-common career move, but there are much less impressive examples among the stable. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin made a second name for himself starring in terrible action schlock. Jessie “The Body” Ventura had a couple of memorable roles in big films, but he also lent his name to some real garbage before he became the 38th Governor of Minnesota. Kane got himself a horror franchise before becoming the mayor of the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Bautista stands out in his choice of roles, his ambition, and his apparent desire to shed the wrestler-turned-actor stigma.
Could one imagine Bautista playing the title role in Black Adam? Probably. He has the intimidation factor locked down, and he’s demonstrated excellent performance in roles that demanded a mixture of charisma and solemnity. Could one imagine him playing the title role in Peacemaker? It would be different, but he still feels like a solid choice for the part. He’s much funnier than people give him credit for and when he’s allowed to be sincere, he can be earnest on an almost unnerving level. Could one imagine Dwayne Johnson or John Cena portraying Sapper Morton, Bautista’s character in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049? Absolutely not. That soft-spoken, meticulously crafted, eerily still tour de force is the antithesis of the wrestler-turned-actor movie star performance. Maybe they could shock the world, but picturing either of those actors in that role is imagining a version of the film that is tangibly worse. That’s what Bautista brings to the industry, and he does it by being an actor first and a movie star second.
Dave Bautista is willing to play against type in a way that isn’t common anymore. Today, a not insubstantial percentage of movie stars have stipulations in their contract mandating that they win every fight they engage in on-screen. It is very important to some actors to look cool, regardless of context. This may be a personal matter, but it may also be a career decision. Will Smith, for example, famously set himself the goal of becoming the world’s biggest movie star and would refuse any roles that might hurt that ambition. If one’s goal is to be the best hypermasculine action star type on the silver screen, never losing a fight might be a good way to ensure a sufficiently “cool” image. But does that sort of ambition serve the art? Is an action film made better by a hero who easily obliterates every obstacle put in front of him? Is a movie star more beloved for their unwillingness to engage in the artistic exploration of collaborative creation?
Dave Bautista has appeared in bad films, but he has also taken risks that a lot of other people wouldn’t. He’s sincere and serious about his craft. The wrestler-turned-actor label slides off of him, even though he was still working with the WWE three years ago. Bautista is enjoying something of a cultural renaissance right now as the world recognizes that he isn’t just another muscle-bound action hero. His role in Blade Runner 2049 is a huge part of that shift, but his recent performance in Glass Onion is yet another strange step away from his standard image. He’s clearly not averse to silly genre roles, as he’s publicly campaigning to star in a Gears of War film, but he’s willing to explore the entire film ecosystem. His upcoming role in Knock at the Cabin seems poised to be his strangest yet, and it’ll be great to see him in more new lights.
Dave Bautista is an interesting figure in Hollywood. His early roles and previous career change the impact of the roles he chooses. Bautista could stand as a lesson to up-and-coming performers. Refuse to be type-cast, find creators who are willing to see something special, and always be ready to play against conventional wisdom. That’s what Bautista does, and the world is rewarded for it.
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