Dave Bautista was introduced to most moviegoers as Drax, the brutal but kind-hearted warrior of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise. In the decade since, he’s taken his share of tough guy roles, in the 007 entry “Spectre” and the “Dune” franchise, but the 56-year-old actor has also developed his tender side with standout dramatic turns, playing a teacher with visions of the apocalypse in “Knock at the Cabin” and an insecure incel influencer in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”
Now starring in director Paul W.S. Anderson’s post-apocalyptic feudal Western “In the Lost Lands,” Bautista shines as a more old-fashioned hero: a royal-employed gun-slinger in the distrustful, lonely mold of spaghetti Western heroes. For the actor, the role was worth relishing.
“It’s a new type of character for me. It’s a little outside of my comfort zone. He felt like that cool, dark mysterious gunslinger,” Bautista tells Variety, before breaking into a grin. “I was never really that kind of leading man, then was thrust into this world where Paul was like, ‘You’re gonna be cool! You’re gonna be dark and mysterious! You’re gonna be sexy! And you’re not only gonna get the girl, you gotta get every girl in the film!’”
Read the full conversation with Bautista about “In the Lost Lands” below.
So much of the film is just you and Milla Jovovich sharing scenes together. How did you find her as a scene partner?
If I’m a fan of somebody that I’m about to work with, I always find it more comfortable just getting it right out of the way. You never know how people are going to react to it, but I wear my heart on my sleeve. I told her right off the bat, “This is a little nerve-racking for me, because you’re on a huge pedestal for me.” She was so easy-going about it. But there were more than a few times where I was in the scene and I was like, “Holy shit… Fucking Milla Jovovich.”
Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista in ‘In the Lost Lands’
Vertical/Everett Collection
Paul developed the look of the Lost Lands in Unreal Engine for over a year before shooting. The digital world could then be composited, rendered and viewed on set via playback. How did he introduce you to that odd technological approach?
It wasn’t really a particular conversation, just because we talked about it so much. I didn’t really understand the technology, so Paul just let me look at it. He showed me what he was looking at while we were filming. I’m looking at nothing but blue walls, but he’s actually looking at this world. It helped me get a vision of what it was. It was very intimate. I had great actors and a lot of practical things that were on set, so I didn’t have to stretch my imagination. He made it super easy for me.
You anchor the very first shot of this film, narrating to the audience in close-up. It’s one of several big spotlights you get in the film. Is there a particular sequence that you’re most proud of?
When I go back to projects that I did a year ago, two years ago, six months ago, I watch my performance and think, “I would have done this different, I would have done that different.” I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I’m proud that I’ve become a better actor after every film that I’ve done. I take criticism from people very well, because it kind of rolls off my shoulder. They’re not criticizing me harder than I’m criticizing myself. I don’t look back on films and think there’s something that I’m particularly proud of. But that’s just me. That’s a pressure I put on myself and that’s me growing as an actor.
You came to screen-acting in your late-thirties after a career in professional wrestling. It makes sense that you still appreciate that progression from performance to performance.
I gauge my career on who I’m working with, even with wrestling. I can look back and say I’m really proud that I got to share scenes with Milla Jovovich, with Jodie Foster and Sir Ben Kingsley. That’s a sense of pride that I carry and I’m very open about it. Hell yeah, I’m proud of that. But as far as me and my performance — you’d be hard-pressed to hear me say, “Yeah, I’m really proud of that.”
“In the Lost Lands” is now playing in theaters.
