Dave Bautista has spent the last decade carving out a reputation for himself as a talented actor, being one of the highlights of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies while also impressing in Spectre, Blade Runner 2049, Dune, and most recently as the gun-totin’ Joe Rogan/Andrew Tate mashup Duke in Glass Onion.
Along the way, he’s more than proved his comedic, action, and dramatic chops, but there’s one genre he’s yet to tap, and he wants in: a rom-com. Bautista gave an interview to Page Six at the premiere of M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, where he said he’s still hopeful that a studio will give him a chance:
“I’m a little rough around the edges. But I always, you know, I look in the mirror and I say, I ask myself, ‘Am I that unattractive? Is there something that unappealing about me that excludes me from these parts? I don’t know. It’s just never come my way. I’ve never had an offer to do a rom-com. I still have high hopes. I’ll just keep searching.”
We think the very fact that he’s an unlikely rom-com lead would make him perfect for a lead role. After all, in action roles it’s difficult to see Bautista as anything other than a badass, and him getting to play out a touching romance would put him in an underdog position and make him easy to root for. Plus, he’s excelled in pretty much every other genre he’s tried, and we have no doubts he’d knock this out of the park too.
Naturally, the world agrees:
Writer Karen Han has vowed to make this happen:
Who are we to argue?
It’s out there, but we’d watch it:
A thousand fantasies have been launched:
This future is now inevitable:
After Knock at the Cabin, Bautista will reprise his MCU role as Drax for the final time in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and will reprise his role as Rabban in Dune: Part Two in November. But one role he’s had his eye on for years seems to have passed him by, perennial Batman back-breaker Bane.
Bautista has long campaigned to play Bane, but recently admitted that despite discussing the role with Gunn, he thinks he’s too old to do it justice. Forget Bane, though, we want to see him delivering a bunch of flowers to his crush rather than crushing his enemies with mighty blows. Come on, Hollywood, make it happen.