‘It wasn’t a struggle physically, my struggle was always performance’
Dave Bautista talks to Georgia Humphreys about Zack Snyder’s film Army of the Dead
From “badass action guy” to a “father who’s just trying to redeem himself with his daughter”, Army Of The Dead really allows Dave Bautista to demonstrate his range as an actor.
And that was exactly why the Netflix project – directed and co-written by Zack Snyder – appealed to the retired professional wrestler, who we’ve previously seen in the Guardians Of The Galaxy films.
“When this first came to my attention, I wasn’t all that interested, because it was described to me as a zombieheist film; I thought it was just an action film,” admits the Virginia-born 52-yearold.
“It wasn’t what I was looking for. I was really set out to prove myself as an actor.
“Then it came back around to me. When I found out that Zack was interested in me playing Scott, I read the script. And it was completely different from what I thought it was going to be, and afforded me the opportunity to really show off different sides.”
Army Of The Dead marks Snyder’s return to the zombie genre; memorably, his directorial debut was 2004’s Dawn Of The Dead.
This epic feature follows a group of mercenaries – including Bautista’s character, Scott Ward – who attempt a heist from a vault underneath the famous strip in Las Vegas.
But this is no ordinary mission, because there’s been a zombie outbreak in the city – and the heist takes them right into the quarantine zone.
Under the employment of shady businessman Hunter Bly (Hiroyuki Sanada), the group face plenty of hairraising moments as they try to survive battling with the undead.
With all the action scenes, you might think this would be the biggest challenge, but then you remember Bautista’s background – as well as his many years in WWE (his last run was in 2018-2019), he’s also a former mixed martial artist and bodybuilder.
“I am an athlete first,” he notes. “That’s where I found my calling and why I was successful in professional wrestling.
“So, it [Army Of The Dead] wasn’t a complete struggle physically, and anything that would become a struggle… I am not embarrassed to admit, if it’s something that’s way over my head, I just call for my stunt double, and he’s perfectly capable of taking care of it.
“My struggle was always performance; that’s still my challenge.”
Bautista reveals that he had been wanting to work with Snyder for years, and then gushes “it was everything I thought it would be – and then some.
“We were carrying guns, and he was carrying a camera – it just felt like he was another part of the cast,” recalls Bautista. “But that was a very special, comforting thing to have him there with us; baking in the sun with us, dirty with us, in the grind with us, which I’ve never experienced before on a film.
“I got an education in directing from Zack, something I’ll take with me and steal when I start making films.”
● Army Of The Dead is released on Netflix today