Dave Bautista addresses weight loss following fans’ concern

13 September, 2024

Dave Bautista has addressed his recent weight loss following fans’ concern.

The former WWE wrestler told Chris Van Vliet that his recent change in physique was motivated by his acting career, because he didn’t want to appear “distracting” on camera after gaining a significant amount of weight for Knock At The Cabin.

“I started trimming down because I got really big for a role. Uncomfortably big,” Bautista said. “For Knock at the Cabin, I got really big. I was around 315 pounds… I put the weight on really fast and I put on an uncomfortable amount of weight and it took forever to shed it out.”

After deciding to shed the weight, he realised he felt much more comfortable on camera interacting with other actors. Losing some size also means he is less likely to be cast in purely action roles, something he’s previously said he wants to branch out from.

“The more I trimmed down the better I looked on camera,” he reasoned. “And the better I looked next to other actors. People say, ‘God, you’re skinny’. I’ve even seen online, some people worried about my health.”

Before Bautista clarified the reasons for his weightloss, fans had been comparing images of him at his WWE peak, where he was notably more muscular, to recent ones on the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival carpet and questioning if he was ill.

“And when I say it out loud, ‘I’m 6’4″ [and] 240 pounds’, which sounds like I’m a big person,” he said. “People have seen me so much bigger over the years that they think I’m like anorexic, but I’m still just a large human being next to your typical actor. I look like a gorilla and it’s distracting.”

“I’ll probably lose a few more pounds,” he added. “I’m just killing myself to be this trim. I’m training hard.” Although Bautista felt he gained too much weight too quickly for Knock at the Cabin, he’s fulfilled the aim of taking on more diverse roles with the M. Night Shyamalan-directed thriller.

Last year, he said it was a “relief” to walk away from his “silly” Marvel role of Drax the Destroyer – and expressed an interest in taking on “more dramatic stuff”. He also turned down a role in the Fast & Furious franchise, saying at the time: “I don’t want to pretend like I’m actually interested in something I’m not.”

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