Batista on How He Hopes His Acting Career is Viewed

While speaking to JoBlo.com, former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista (aka Batista) was promoting his new film, Army of the Dead, and explained how he wants to be a different type of actor than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, another former WWE Superstar who made the cross over into acting. Below are some highlights.

Dave Bautista on if coming from an industry used to telling a story with your body is an asset: “No, because I’ve tried to go the other route. Like, The Rock is a perfect example of someone who uses that strength, so I wanted to go against that grain and make everything much smaller, very subtle. I make a living off of subtlety. I want that to be my strength. I want that to be what separates us. I don’t want to be that guy who walks in that room, I never wanted to be that guy.”

On how The Rock feels as a character and how he wants to be an “actor”: “No, I don’t mean that as a dig on him [The Rock], but you know how he is as a character. He feels very professional wrestling to me. I don’t want to be that guy. I want to be an actor. I want to act, I want people to judge me for my acting, my subtlety. I want to take roles that require that. I don’t want to be a big action guy who just says cool shit and kills a lot of people and gets the girl. I don’t want to be that guy. I want to guy that makes people cry, who makes people think, who inspires people. I want to be a dramatic actor. I just love it. I love acting.”

Army of the Dead, starring Bautista and directed by Zack Snyder, debuts on Netflix on May 21.