‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Star Dave Bautista Auditioned for Multiple Star Wars Movies

Prior to Star Wars becoming a massive pop culture sensation, multiple now-famous actors were nearly cast in a number of roles, which would have effectively changed the entire franchise in numerous ways. Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista recently shared that even he attempted to join the galaxy far, far away, yet none of these auditions were successful.

“I’ve actually auditioned for a couple of Star Wars [movies] and they’ve turned me down,” Bautista admitted to Flickering Myth. “It was always a dream of mine to be in a Star Wars film.”

The actor didn’t reveal what character he was auditioning to play, and he likely never would have even gotten many details about the project, given Lucasfilm‘s notoriety for secrecy surrounding future projects. With his history as a professional wrestler, many of his roles in films have included an incredibly physical presence, yet no characters from the new Star Wars films under Disney stand out as requiring a performer with such an impressive stature.

This isn’t to dismiss Bautista’s acting abilities, but the characters he may have auditioned for are anyone’s guess.

It’s possible that the actor not getting involved in the Star Wars franchise in its current incarnation was for the best, as he hasn’t particularly enjoyed Lucasfilm’s recent efforts.

“I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the latest installments,” Bautista admitted. “I particularly loved Rogue One. I thought it was a really great film and I love that they went a little bit dark with it. I thought it was really interesting.”

Interestingly, the actor’s breakout role was as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, which drew heavy inspiration from Star Wars with its intergalactic adventures and the camaraderie shown between a reluctant group of heroes coming together to fight a greater evil.

With the star’s recent behavior on social media, we doubt he’ll be anxious to join another Disney-owned franchise in the future.

After Disney announced it was parting ways with Guardians director James Gunn due to comments he made earlier in his career about rape and pedophilia, Bautista stood in solidarity with his friend and collaborator, expressing his disappointment in the studio on Twitter. Each new development that Gunn wouldn’t direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would result in a new comment from Bautista about the matter, most recently sharing facetiously, “Thanks, Disney !! Making America great again.”

The next film in the franchise, Star Wars: Episode IX, will land in theaters in December of 2019. The third Guardians film was expected to debut in 2020, though the project has been put on an indefinite hiatus while Disney searches for a new director.

Do you wish you could have seen Bautista in a Star Wars film? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T Flickering Myth]