Army of the Dead star Dave Bautista on starring in Zack Snyder’s zombie thriller, and getting Guardians of the Galaxy closure

Bautista was excited at the chance to front a film by Snyder, the A-list director behind superhero spectaculars Watchmen, Justice League and Man of Steel

After retiring from pro wrestling, the 52-year-old struggled to get acting jobs, but he showed a talent for deadpan humour in Guardians of the Galaxy

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Dave Bautista takes the lead role in Zack Snyder’s zombie heist thriller Army of the Dead. Photo: Netflix

Published: 2:30am, 20 May 2021Updated: 3:06am, 20 May 2021

Dave Bautista always shoots from the hip. The genial 52-year-old former wrestler’s truth meter hasn’t been warped one bit by his success – he is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood after playing a villain in James Bond movie Spectre and the alien Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films – even when it comes to selling his new movie, Zack Snyder’s zombie heist thriller Army of the Dead.

“I guess I’m like a half-a**ed horror fan,” he shrugs. “I don’t like gore. I’m not a slasher guy. I like vampire films. Vampire films like Blade. And I like werewolves and Frankenstein. That’s kind of the stuff I grew up on.”

What about zombies? “I enjoy the hell out of The Walking Dead. It’s one of my favourite TV shows ever – I’m a diehard fan. But it wasn’t a dream of mine to be in a zombie film.” He chuckles at how off-message he sounds. “Believe me there’s a sense of guilt when I say that … but I never thought much about the appeal of zombies.”

Nevertheless, Bautista was excited at the opportunity to front a film by Snyder, the A-list director behind superhero spectaculars Watchmen, Justice League and Man of Steel, and see what he’d do. “I definitely feel like if Zack had a calling,” he adds, “it would be to make zombie films.”

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One of Snyder’s most visceral films was his earlier attempt at the genre – his 2004 feature debut that refashioned George Romero’s zombie masterpiece Dawn of the Dead, and featured fast-moving, super-terrifying flesh-eaters.