To refer to Dave Bautista’s casting as Drax in “Guardians of the Galaxy” as a pivotal moment in his adult life would be a massive understatement, as it singlehandedly transformed the WWE wrestler-turned-actor from a largely unknown quantity to an in-demand talent who could safely rely on plenty of appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a steady paycheck and even more exposure. So, naturally, Bautista immediately went off and starred in various roles for filmmakers like Denis Villeneuve, Sam Mendes, Zack Snyder, Rian Johnson, and M. Night Shyamalan.
With each and every role, he continued to establish himself as a shockingly capable character actor who gets just as much mileage out of a pair of tiny glasses as he can with his imposing physicality. Drax would seem to provide the best of both worlds, allowing the actor to make full use of his broad comedic timing while bringing a genuine heart and pathos to what could’ve been a paper-thin character.
But in a new profile with GQ, Bautista has revealed that, as much as he loves the character (who’ll soon come to the end of his journey in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”), he’s setting his sights higher than merely being known for his Marvel role:
“I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy — it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”