Dave Bautista on Shedding Weight, Wearing Pearls, People Trying to Fight Him & Having Long Hair
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging interview, former wrestler and actor Dave Bautista talks about his weight loss journey, fashion choices, and acting career, highlighting roles in films like 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' 'Dune,' and 'Glass Onion.' He shares fun anecdotes about his days as a bouncer, his experience screening 'Glass Onion' for the 'Dune' cast, and a humorous incident involving a confrontation at a restaurant. Bautista also discusses his latest role as a hitman in 'The Killer's Game,' blending action with romance. The conversation is filled with laughter and personal insights from Bautista's fascinating life.
Takeaways
- 😀 Dave Batista, a former wrestler, has starred in major films like Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune, and Blade Runner.
- 🏋️ Batista once weighed 315 pounds for a film role, but has since lost weight and now weighs 240 pounds.
- 💎 Batista wore expensive pearls at the Toronto Film Festival, embracing the trend of men wearing pearls.
- 🎬 He has worked with prestigious film casts, including Dune and Glass Onion, and screened Glass Onion for his Dune castmates.
- 😅 Batista felt nervous screening Glass Onion for his peers, but was validated by Javier Bardem's positive reaction.
- 🔒 Before his wrestling and acting careers, Batista worked as a bouncer and security guard for celebrities like Jamie Foxx and Marky Mark.
- 🤝 Batista had a surreal moment reconnecting with Jamie Foxx, who didn't remember him but appreciated his success.
- 💇 Batista shaved his head during his wrestling career and hasn’t had a full head of hair for over 15 years.
- ⚔️ His wrestling and martial arts experience make him comfortable with action scenes, though he doesn't consider himself better than others.
- 🥗 Batista once got into a bizarre fight at a Fuddruckers, where a man attacked him with a wet floor sign, leading to police involvement.
Q & A
Who is the guest in this interview?
-The guest is Dave Batista, a former wrestler and actor known for his roles in 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' 'Dune,' and 'Blade Runner.'
How much weight did Dave Batista lose from his peak weight?
-Dave Batista lost about 75 pounds, going from 315 pounds during the filming of 'Knock at the Cabin' to 240 pounds.
What is the latest movie Dave Batista is promoting in the interview?
-Dave Batista is promoting 'The Killer's Game,' where he plays a hitman. The movie opens in theaters on Friday.
What did Dave Batista say about wearing pearls?
-Dave Batista said he wore pearls at the Toronto Film Festival, something he had always wanted to do. He thought they were cool and edgy and bought them himself.
How did Dave Batista feel about being part of large movie ensembles?
-Dave Batista finds it surreal and still crazy when he sees it written out that he is part of these amazing casts, especially after coming from a wrestling background.
What was Dave Batista’s fondest memory during the screening of 'Glass Onion' for the cast of 'Dune'?
-Dave Batista's fondest memory was Javier Bardem’s reaction to 'Glass Onion.' Javier was laughing, dancing, and excited, which made Batista feel validated.
What jobs did Dave Batista have before becoming a wrestler and actor?
-Before becoming a wrestler and actor, Dave Batista worked as a bouncer in Washington, D.C., for 13 years and occasionally took security jobs for celebrities like Billy Idol, Marky Mark, and Jamie Foxx.
What was Batista’s interaction with Jamie Foxx after his time as security for him?
-Years later, Dave Batista met Jamie Foxx at the NAACP Awards and reminded him of the time he worked security for him. Jamie didn’t remember Batista personally but remembered the event.
Why did Dave Batista shave his head, and how long has it been since he had long hair?
-Dave Batista shaved his head when he was wrestling because his hair was too thick and hot. It’s been around 15 years since he last had long hair.
Has Dave Batista ever been involved in real-life altercations due to his size?
-Yes, even when he was massive, people tried to pick fights with him. He shared a story about a man attacking him with a wet floor sign at a Fuddruckers, which led to a scuffle.
Outlines
🎬 Dave Bautista's Journey: From Wrestling to Hollywood Stardom
In this segment, Dave Bautista is introduced as a former wrestler with major film roles in *Guardians of the Galaxy*, *Dune*, and *Blade Runner*. He talks about his new movie, *The Killers Game*, where he plays a hitman. Bautista discusses his physical transformation, having lost significant weight after a role in *Knock at the Cabin*. Despite being 6'4" and 240 lbs, he shares how people still view him as having lost too much weight. He also reflects on his evolving style, noting his decision to wear pearls at the Toronto Film Festival, inspired by the growing trend among men to wear such jewelry.
🎥 Bautista's Star-Studded Movie Career and a Memorable Screening
Bautista reflects on his experience working with star-studded casts in films like *Dune* and *Glass Onion*. He recounts a memorable moment when he hosted an early screening of *Glass Onion* for the cast and crew of *Dune*, and how it was nerve-wracking to have such famous peers watching his work. His fondest memory was seeing actor Javier Bardem dancing with joy after the film, which made Bautista feel validated as an actor. This moment underscored Bautista’s journey from a wrestler to an actor recognized by his Hollywood peers.
💪 From Bouncer to Actor: Bautista’s Early Security Jobs
Before his wrestling and acting career, Bautista worked as a bouncer and took security jobs on the side. He reminisces about working with celebrities like Billy Idol, Marky Mark (during the Funky Bunch era), and Jamie Foxx. In a touching anecdote, Bautista recounts meeting Jamie Foxx years later at the NAACP Awards, where Foxx encouraged him, saying, 'Look at you now, brother.' This interaction reminded Bautista of his journey from being a security guard to a Hollywood star, creating a full-circle moment in his career.
👨🦲 Bautista’s Hair Journey: From Full Head to Shaved Bald
Bautista humorously reflects on his hair journey, showing a photograph of himself at 24 with a full head of hair. He explains that he started cutting it due to its thickness and heat, eventually transitioning to a completely shaved head while wrestling. He shares that he attempted to grow it back once, but it never grew the same. The segment wraps up with a light-hearted moment where they show an image of his 'lost' hair, playing on the nostalgia of his younger days.
🎞️ The Killer Game: A Unique Blend of Action and Romance
Bautista discusses his latest film *The Killers Game*, describing it as a romantic comedy disguised as an action film. In the movie, his character is a hitman misdiagnosed with a terminal illness just as he falls in love for the first time. Bautista mentions that his background in wrestling and martial arts makes him comfortable with fight scenes. He also enjoys performing action sequences, feeling they come naturally to him due to his experience in both physical combat and performance.
🥋 Real-Life Fights and Unexpected Brawls
Despite his massive size, Bautista shares how people still pick fights with him in real life. He recounts a bizarre story where a smaller man provoked him at a Fuddruckers restaurant, escalating the situation by hitting Bautista with a 'wet floor' sign before tackling him into a salad bar. Bautista notes that even though he doesn't seek fights, these encounters happen frequently, and he prefers to resolve conflict peacefully. In this particular instance, he choked the aggressor, leading to police intervention, though charges were eventually dropped.
🎥 Bautista’s Star Power and Upcoming Film Release
In this closing section, the host wraps up the interview by promoting Bautista's film *The Killer Game*, which is set to open in theaters on Friday. The segment ends with applause and a lighthearted tone, highlighting Bautista's growing stature in Hollywood as an actor with both comedic and action-packed roles under his belt.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dave Batista
💡Guardians of the Galaxy
💡Knock at the Cabin
💡Dune
💡Glass Onion
💡Wrestling
💡Toronto Film Festival
💡Action scenes
💡The Killers Game
💡Bodyguard and Bouncer
Highlights
Dave Batista discusses his weight transformation, losing from 315 lbs to 240 lbs after filming 'Knock at the Cabin'.
Batista talks about evolving his style and his decision to wear pearls at the Toronto Film Festival.
The host comments on Batista being a part of notable ensemble casts in films like 'Dune' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy'.
Batista shares a memorable moment where Javier Bardem danced after watching 'Glass Onion', giving Batista a sense of validation as an actor.
He recalls his early days working as a bouncer and bodyguard, mentioning famous people he worked for, including Billy Idol, Marky Mark, and Jamie Foxx.
Batista reminisces about meeting Jamie Foxx years later at the NAACP Awards, where Foxx recognized how far Batista had come.
A nostalgic moment is shared when the host shows a photo of Batista with long hair at age 24, and they discuss his decision to shave his head later in life.
Batista reflects on his comfort with action scenes due to his wrestling and martial arts background.
He shares a story about a man picking a fight with him at a Fuddruckers restaurant, where Batista was surprisingly hit with a wet floor sign.
Despite his size, Batista prefers not to fight and would rather resolve conflicts peacefully, even though some people still challenge him.
Batista talks about his upcoming film 'The Killer’s Game', in which he plays a hitman diagnosed with a terminal illness who falls in love.
Batista humorously mentions that people often talk about him like he's anorexic, even though he still weighs 240 lbs.
The host jokes about Batista’s imposing size and the thought of challenging him to an arm-wrestling match.
Batista recounts how his bouncer experience helped him navigate the film industry, building discipline and toughness.
In a light-hearted closing, Batista laughs as the host jokingly presents him with a 'surprise'—a photo of him with his full head of hair from years ago.
Transcripts
our first guest tonight is a former
wrestler with three Guardians of the
Galaxy two dunes and a Blade Runner
under his championship belt next he
plays a Hitman in The Killers game it
opens the theaters Friday please say
hello to Dave Batista
[Applause]
how are you you look very trim you look
thank you you look trim how thin how
like how much weight have you lost since
your Peak since my well a couple years
ago I put on a lot of weight for a film
called knock at the cabin okay and I
went up to 315 315 yeah and I'm about
240 now 240 now hold on let me get some
paper and I'll figure this out and I've
been trying to shed that weight since
and I've just now kind of gotten to the
point where I'm like I feel good man do
you yeah you've been and also you've
been
like you look good yeah thank you it's
funny because I saw a picture I'm like
oh my God he lost like a whole person
yeah and I'm still 240 lbs people like
talk about me like I'm anorexic 64
240 I was hoping I'd be able to beat you
in arm wrestling but as soon as you
walked out I thought no
way uh your style is evolving as well
this is from the Toronto Film Festival
last week here you are
wearing a
um are these are these pearls that
you're wearing I I wore pearls yeah I've
always wanted to wore pearls I thought
this is a suit to wear them with and I
broke them out and I wore them yeah
that's something you've always had in
your mind I like to wear pearls I just
thought it would kind of cool and edgy
and I I I see that men have been wearing
pearls lately they have and I thought
man I'm I'm going to sports some pearls
you know it's funny why wouldn't like I
mean you know men will wear you're
wearing a necklace right now why would
wouldn't men wear pearls does make sense
if you're going to wear any jewelry
diamonds and pearls man and are they
real pearls that you're wearing or those
those are very expensive pearls very
expensive pears do you have to give them
back or do you no I bought those yeah
you bought them yeah so you have them in
a thing like like like Grandma kind
of you've been um you've been a part of
I think more than most actors you've
been a part of these big great casts
like you were in Dune uh two you in this
cast different
people did you ever imagine when I mean
really like you I guess when you
wrestling you were part of this great
cast also but do you ever imagine you'd
be like mixed up with all of these movie
stars no it's even when you say it out
loud or when I see it written somewhere
it's like crazy to me you know what was
the craziest thing ever I think cuz I
haven't been part of all these amazing
ensembles of really talented people but
I actually got to screen one of my films
Glass Onion uh to the that was a good
one yeah I got to do an early screening
for that film for the casting crew of
Dune and oh you did oh you invited them
to to see the movie I did yeah we got an
early screening so we put it you know we
had a theater and I started inviting
people and it ended up being a lot a lot
of movie stars there were you nervous
about that it was crazy in like it was
nerve-racking for me cuz I was like oh
man being judged by your peers is is
yeah they could kick you out of the
movie if they didn't like it right and I
didn't want to you know get up you know
I didn't want people to be uncomfortably
like have to oh you yeah who was there J
who was at the thing um you know every
everybody was there well not everybody
but most people from the cash were there
uh a lot of the crews deny was there my
fondest memory of that day was uh Javier
bardem's reaction to that film oh really
because he was so excited about he loved
the film so much and he was just
laughing and dancing at the end of it
and it just I it just made me feel so
validated and good because I love har
Javier so much I great seeing him
dancing after the movie and he and I
think he looked at me differently so
like that type of validation was like H
maybe maybe you can act and you started
off even before wrestling you were a
bodyguard for a lot of these movie stars
I was well I was a bouncer in DC for 13
years okay and so in between bouncing
jobs I would take security jobs and like
who did you work with security wise I I
did a night with I did a night with h
Billy Idol uh I did I I looked out for
Marky Mark when he was still with the
funky bun is that right like a day G DC
uh Jamie Fox Jamie Fox came in and uh
and performed and do you ever run in
like does Jamie remember that you I saw
it's funny thing I saw Jamie at the
NAACP Awards a few years back and I said
hey man you're not going to remember
this but you you came in DC and
Constitution Hall you to the show and
how was your security and he didn't
remember me but he remember remember the
day I remember the show and I was
telling him I like was really great and
I can't believe I'm standing here
talking to you now and he goes he goes
look at you now brother and I was like
yeah it's crazy like one of those
surreal moments yeah that is that is a
strange moment it's great GMO I hope
you're hearing this yes yes I am
realizing yeah I am of course yeah I
like you man
great back
then know you have uh you had a you had
long hair back then right in fact we
found a
photograph that's you how old are you in
this I think I was about 24 there 24 and
you shaved your head when well I started
shaving my head I I cut my hair probably
like I don't know 7 eight years after
that cuz it was just so thick and hot
and so I cut it but I actually started
shaving it when I was
wrestling and I shaved it and I was fine
being bald I I love being bald and then
one year I tried to grow it back out and
it was like it just didn't grow in the
way it used to so how long has it been
since you've seen that full head of hair
oh man it's been easily 15 years now
well I have an exciting surprise for you
I know it's been a long time you your
hair I've been together
there there it is oh my God found my
hair Where Have You
Been yeah oh look at
that da Batista everybody we'll be right
back H the
[Music]
[Music]
that is game in theill game El Friday
that's fun
huh yeah beautifully shot also this is a
this is such a fun film this is actually
this is a romc disgu as an action film I
like that really is you uh and it's you
you play an assassin who's misdiagnosed
misdiagnosed with a terminal illness
right when he falls in love for the very
first time yeah perfect very good timing
do you find that like when you're doing
uh these action scenes that you're
better at them than most because of your
wrestling experience I don't I don't
know if I'm better but I'm so I'm really
comfortable with them I think yeah from
from wrestling and from the martial arts
that I've done over the years I think
I'm just somewhat good at it and pretty
comfortable with them yeah yeah I like I
like fight scenes you like fight scenes
do you now do do people are people ever
foolish enough to fight you in real life
or try to fight you yeah even when I was
balancing like when I was super massive
that people were you know trying to pick
fights I
actually I had some guy half my size one
time I was in a flood
Ruckers I was in a fun Ruckers and I was
there minding my own business I was
there with my girlfriend he started
talking about my girlfriend and I turned
around I just say dude what's what's
your problem and he jumped up in my face
and he said I don't care if you're big I
hit you three times before you hit me
once and he was so in my face and so
aggressive I pushed him and he ran
around like he was losing his mind he
was like oh no no and I'm wondering what
this guy's doing and he picks up a wet
floor sign off the floor and I'm
thinking no way this guy's going to hit
me with over that floor sign no way he's
going to do it crack and he cracked me
right in the head he think cracked me in
the head with a wet floor sign then he
tackled me into the salad bar salad yeah
salad bar shattered it was yeah it was
it was so yes they answered your
question people actually they pick
fights with me and I don't want to fight
I would rather hug it
out conversation yeah that's crazy I
guess he's fortunate that you didn't
decide to kill him afterward well I did
I choked him a little bit oh you CH
thing is I choked him a little bit and
the police when the police came they
charged me they did because I I pushed
him
and they said that started the fight oh
wow yeah so they ended up dropping the
charg charg yeah but now I choked them a
little bit and W trouble of fun Ruckers
you
know stuff that doesn't happen to a
movie star I bet you didn't tell the
Funky Bunch about that
in well it's great to have you here the
movie uh is called the Killer game it
opens at the movies on Friday J Batista
everybody we'll be right back with James
Adomian on la
[Applause]
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