Army of the Dead: Zack Snyder Reveals How He Convinced Dave Bautista to Join the Film

Of the various elements of Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead that have excited audiences, Dave Bautista's performance is arguably the most compelling component, though Snyder recently detailed how the performer nearly turned down the opportunity entirely when he was initially pitched the project. Snyder would go on to note that it wasn't until he detailed to Bautista that it wasn't merely a horror spectacle but a story with a lot of emotion, which convinced the actor to read the script, ultimately resulting in him expressing interest in joining the adventure. Army of the Dead is currently streaming on Netflix.

"Dave, I'd been a fan of his and I wanted to work with him. And he didn't want to do it, actually," Snyder recalled to IMDB's Movies That Changed My Life podcast. "I called him-- I said, 'Dave, you want to do this zombie movie?' He was like, 'No, I'm not really-- no, I don't think so.' But I wasn't finished. 'It's got a lot of heart.' And he was like, 'Wait a minute. What do you mean?' So literally, he read the script, and he called me back immediately, and he said, 'OK, I didn't realize-- I didn't know.' And I said, 'It's OK. It's OK.'

The filmmaker then went on to detail how he fleshed out the rest of the apocalyptic ensemble.

"Then, the rest of them-- you know, look, I had this idea that, for one, the movie takes place in the Southwest of America. So there's a huge Latino influence, culturally," Snyder pointed out. "So you know, I just wanted that influence to be really strong in the film. They all do an amazing job in the movie, really represent amazingly well and they're incredible. They're also really funny, fun, great actors, and everything about it is perfect. Then, Omari [Hardwick]-- you know, I needed a philosopher. He felt like the perfect guy for the job and didn't disappoint. He's not too bad with the giant saw, either. You know, he will saw you in half."

Bautista hasn't kept it a secret that he initially wasn't interested in the project, having recalled his own reactions earlier this month and initial dismissal of the narrative.

"Initially when I heard about the film, I thought it sounded interesting," Bautista told CinemaBlend. "But as a performer, I wasn't interested in the project because I was really looking for roles that would afford me the opportunity to perform and be an actor and do some dramatic stuff. I wanted to showcase my range as an actor, and a lot of times you just can't do it when you're playing an action hero."

Army of the Dead is currently streaming on Netflix.

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