When Dave Bautista, known for his role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, appeared at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival looking much slimmer than usual, some fans got worried. One person tweeted, “What happened? Hope this is for a role and he’s not sick or something.”
Other fans tried to stop the gossip, reminding people of the late Chadwick Boseman, who faced cruel jokes about his weight loss before it was known he was battling colon cancer. They pointed out that spreading rumors about a celebrity’s appearance can be harmful and disrespectful.
Many celebrities have talked about using the weight loss drug Ozempic, so some people thought Dave Bautista might be using it too. However, on the “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” podcast, Bautista clarified that he isn’t using Ozempic and that he’s healthy.
He explained that he’s a large person, standing at 6’4″ and weighing 240 pounds, so he might look different from other actors. Bautista attributed his weight loss to exercise and reducing his daily calories to 2,500. He mentioned that jiu-jitsu is his favorite way to burn calories. Bautista said he’s lost some muscle but feels more comfortable with his new look, and he hasn’t been this size since he was a teenager.
Dave Bautista started bulking up in high school
On “Live with Kelly and Mark,” Dave Bautista shared that he discovered he was naturally good at wrestling in high school, competing in the 185-pound weight class.
Bautista had a tough childhood, and the gym became a place where he could escape his problems and avoid bad influences. He said he loved wrestling but really enjoyed training and the results he saw. Working out helped him build confidence and change from a shy, skinny kid into someone more self-assured.
His muscle gains led him to try professional bodybuilding after he dropped out of high school, but he found the egos in the sport overwhelming. He worked at a gym in Virginia that was like a second home to him and later used his size to work as a bouncer in Washington, D.C. Bautista also worked security for celebrities like Jamie Foxx, Mark Wahlberg, and Billy Idol, as he mentioned on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Dave Bautista weighed 325 pounds when he failed a wrestling audition
Dave Bautista realized that being a bouncer didn’t offer much room for career growth, so he started looking for a new path. He chose wrestling, thinking his large size would give him an edge. However, his audition with WCW in Minneapolis didn’t go well.
Bautista was 325 pounds at the time and felt that the smaller person running the audition might have been envious of his size. The person told Bautista to leave and said he’d never become a professional wrestler.
But Bautista didn’t give up. He found another way into wrestling by training at the Wild Samoan Training Center, which led to a job offer from WWE. At 33, he began his wrestling career as Reverend D-Von’s enforcer, Deacon Batista. He shared that he was around 325 pounds when he started and stayed around 290 pounds for most of his wrestling career.
Later, he dropped the “Deacon” from his wrestling name, got the nickname “The Animal,” and became known for his signature move called the Batista Bomb. In 2005, Bautista won his first World Heavyweight Championship. While he gained respect in wrestling, he eventually decided he was ready for new challenges.
He made a diet change during his MMA career
In 2010, Dave Bautista decided to try acting, but his early roles, like in the direct-to-video movie The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, didn’t make a big splash in Hollywood. That same year, he had his first and only MMA fight.
While waiting for his acting career to take off, Bautista trained with famous MMA coach Cesar Gracie, learning muay Thai, Kali, and jiu-jitsu. His new training routine was very demanding. He said it was even harder than wrestling, with intense training sessions five days a week.
Bautista also changed his diet by going gluten-free and cutting out red meat. This helped him lose weight more easily and feel better. For his MMA fight, he weighed 265.5 pounds and defeated the heavier Vince Lucero by technical knockout in the first round.
He tweaked his workout routine when Hollywood came calling
In 2013, Hollywood finally took notice of Dave Bautista when he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy. After that, he landed roles in the James Bond movie Spectre and the sci-fi film Blade Runner 2049. Bautista said, “‘Guardians’ made my career and changed my life.”
Even though his strong wrestling physique helped him get action roles, he switched his workout routine for films. Instead of the heavy lifting he did as a wrestler, Bautista now focuses on cardio workouts for his roles and overall health.
When Drax and the other Guardians joined the Avengers in 2019, Dave Bautista made another change. He started working with a personal trainer to get his body into top shape, aiming to look like a real-life action figure. He wanted to be not just big but also toned, with a broad, triangle-shaped torso and strong legs. He also changed his diet to high-protein, eating a lot of chicken and eggs.
By 2021, Bautista started to feel tired of playing a muscular, shirtless alien. He joked about it on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” saying that being shirtless was becoming harder for him.
Putting on weight for a role was tough
Before Dave Bautista lost so much weight that fans started worrying, he needed to gain a lot of muscle for his role in the 2023 thriller Knock at the Cabin. To get ready for the film in 2022, he shared a photo on Instagram showing his progress. On “Insight,” he told Chris Van Vliet that he got up to 315 pounds quickly by eating lots of French fries and pancakes.
Although it might sound fun to eat junk food every day, Bautista didn’t enjoy it. He said it was tough and took a toll on him, and he wasn’t sure if he’d want to do it again.
Bautista said it was really hard to lose the weight he gained, but he was ready for the challenge. He noticed that as he lost weight, he felt better and looked better on camera.
With his new look, he was excited to land his first role in a romantic comedy, The Killer’s Game. He told Entertainment Weekly that his next big goal is to direct a movie, which means he won’t have to worry about changing his body for a role. Since he’s achieved so much already, fans can look forward to seeing what he does next.
