Dave Bautista Opens Up About The Transition From Wrestling To Acting

A number of professional wrestlers have left the business to pursue a career in acting over the years, but not many achieved mainstream success. One who has successfully made the transition is six-time former world champion Dave Bautista, although that success didn't come quickly or easily.

In a new interview with GQ, Bautista opened up about his acting career and revealed that struggled in his first few years outside WWE.

Bautista said he spent years taking a risk by being "picky and choosy" about the roles he took despite struggling to make money. His house was foreclosed on and he began selling his cars, he told GQ, adding that the reason he was so "picky" was because "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had told him: 'You're going to get offers for horrible scripts. The money will be tempting. Don't get caught in that trap." So Bautista said he held off on taking certain roles and "lost everything." "I had to start all over," he said. Eventually, the former wrestler got the call that he was being cast as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Guardians of the Galaxy" series.

"I had to pull over because I was crying so hard," Bautista said. "I turned right back around and walked into my house shaking to tell my wife I had gotten the role, and we were both standing there freaking out."

Bautista went on to land other memorable roles, including Glossu Rabban in the ongoing "Dune" series. Last week, Bautista's latest film, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," premiered on Netflix.