Dave Bautista on Determination to Become an Actor: ‘I Starved for Three Years’

Dave Bautista was candid about how difficult life became for him financially after leaving the WWE during his appearance at Denver Pop Culture Con over the weekend. Bautista revealed that in his quest to prove that he could make it as an actor, he was so strapped for cash that he “starved for three years.”

“I starved for three years,” Bautista said. “I went broke. I lost everything. I couldn’t get a job and I said that I will never go back to wrestling until I prove what I set out to prove, and that was that I can make it as an actor.” 

Bautista’s determination to break into acting stems from a film that he did while he was still wrestling. The Guardians of the Galaxy star admitted that he was a “horrendous actor,” and wanted to prove that he was better, but the WWE stifled those aspirations. If he truly wanted to be an actor, Bautista was faced with a tough decision: stay in the WWE or leave. 

“I was with WWE at the time and I went and did a film,” Bautista said. “I had zero interest in acting, all I wanted to do was wrestle. I loved wrestling, I was obsessed with wrestling, and I went and did a film as a favor for a friend and I realized I was horrible. I was a horrendous actor. I was so mortified that I wanted to prove I could be better, and the company [WWE], they wouldn’t let me do anything outside of the company.” 

Bautista’s bet on himself paid off when he landed the role of Drax in Guardians. With his acting career started to round into shape, he felt like he could return to the WWE. “Then I got the role on Guardians. When I got the role, I finished the film and the first call I made after I wrapped was to Vince McMahon,” he said. “I said, ‘Hey man, I’d really like to come back and wrestle for a little bit.'”