Dave Bautista recently spoke with Lauren Larson of Men’s Health for an in-depth interview covering all things Hollywood and WWE.
During the discussion, the WWE legend spoke about his heel run in WWE helping him get more roles in Hollywood, how he worried everyday he would get fired during his run with the company and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On worrying everyday that he would get fired in WWE: “I couldn’t get comfortable, people didn’t like me, I was doing something wrong, the company wasn’t going to do anything with me, they didn’t know what to do with me, they didn’t know where I fit in,” said Batista, who still loved wrestling, despite the mental cost. He added, “It was just a very toxic atmosphere. Wrestling is very competitive. It’s very cutthroat. You’re put in a position where you have to posture up all the time, and it’s exhausting. It’s just exhausting.”
On how he didn’t want to take typical roles being a former pro wrestler when he transitioned into acting: “I didn’t want to be the guy coming from wrestling, taking these easy action roles and just kind of pumping up and putting baby oil on my arms,” he said, adding, “I really fell in love with acting.”
“I’m not trying to separate myself from professional wrestling because I’m embarrassed or anything like that,” he said. “It’s just, I needed to make a name for myself and start all over and kind of just get people to see me in a different light. Because if people always see me as a pro wrestler turned actor, then they’re going to put me in a box for roles.”
On how playing a heel in WWE helped set him up for villain roles in Hollywood: “I found out in wrestling that I like being the bad guy,” he said. “And I don’t know why this happens, but there’s something about me that people like as a bad guy.”
Check out the complete interview at MensHealth.com.
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