Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn Explains What Makes Dave Bautista a Good Actor

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. is expected to be released in 2023, and director James Gunn has made it clear that he wouldn’t even consider making the movie without Dave Bautista returning to play Drax. Gunn clearly has a lot of love for the wrestler-turned-actor, and recently answered a fan question on Twitter explaining why he believes Bautista is a good actor. The interaction was extra cool because the fan happened to be Chance the Rapper.

“Is there a specific reason why Dave Bautista is such a good actor? Did he act before WWE?,” Chance the Rapper tweeted. “Bc @DaveBautista takes the craft seriously. He’s grounded in real emotion & not showy. The difference between Dave & many wrestler-actors is when you look in his eyes on set he’s in the place he’s supposed to be, not thinking about what he’s going to do next,” Gunn replied.

The director added, “One of the things I deal with a lot with actors who have been a part of other performing arts (ie wrestling or comedy) is to get them to STOP JUGGLING and JUST BE. It’s not your job to entertain us – it’s simply your job to be present to the moment in front of you -And to treat it honestly. I never really had to teach that to @DaveBautista. His rawness set him apart from the first moment I met him. It was merely a matter of creating a space where he could come and share himself with all of us.”

Gunn concluded, “I hate falseness in an actor’s eyes. There are many big time movie stars who hurt movies for me because I can see the lying in their eyes – replacing acting with boasting, or thinking about themselves & what they’re going to do next, I’d much rather work with @DaveBautista or Michael Rooker or @Dastmalchian or @MelchiorDaniela or @violadavis or @seangunn or @PomKlementieff or @cosio_joaquin or a many others who seem to always be present as a baseline: actors who have stopped seeking & started being.” You can view the whole tweet exchange here.

“I believe it’s okay to say that we will go into production late [2021],” Bautista recently shared with Entertainment Weekly about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. “I saw a script early on when we were all on schedule and James Gunn was attached before everything went nutso. I believe because [Marvel’s] whole calendar has changed [due to the pandemic shutdown and Guardians’ production delays], that storylines have changed, and they won’t intersect like originally planned. Obviously, we lost Chadwick [Boseman], so I don’t know where that leaves Black Panther. I haven’t seen a new script, is the short answer.”

Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are both currently available to stream on Disney+. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to be released in 2023.