Dave Bautista

David Michael Bautista Jr. was born in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 1969, the son of Donna Raye (née Mullins) and hairdresser David Michael Bautista. His mother is of Greek descent, while his father was born to Filipino immigrants. His paternal grandfather served in the Philippine military, worked as a taxi driver and barber, and held other jobs to feed the family. Bautista's mother later came out as a lesbian. He has said that he lived in poverty and had a hard life which included exposure to violent crime at an early age. Before reaching the age of nine, two bodies had been found on his front lawn and another one nearby. As young as age 13, he had begun stealing cars. By age 17, he was estranged from his parents and living on his own. However, he later said, "I am proud of my parents. They are good, honest, hard-working folks. They taught me the values of working hard." Bautista worked as a nightclub bouncer until he was arrested after a fight that left two patrons injured, one of whom was knocked unconscious. After a trial, he was sentenced to one year of probation. He worked as a lifeguard before deciding to pursue a career in bodybuilding, which he credits with saving his life. At the age of 30, after having a breakdown from the shame he felt for having to ask a co-worker to lend him money so he could buy Christmas presents for his children, he saw how lucrative a career in professional wrestling could be and decided to pursue it.After leaving WWE, Bautista attended Strikeforce: Los Angeles on June 16, 2010, having previously registered an interest in competing in MMA. Five days later, he said that he would be embarking on an MMA career. He became a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Cesar Gracie. Bautista and Strikeforce agreed on a price and were negotiating a contract. However, in April 2011, Bautista stated that negotiations fell through when the organization was bought by the Zuffa company. Bautista was expected to make his MMA debut against Rashid Evans on October 6, 2012, at CES MMA: Real Pain in Providence, Rhode Island. However, on October 1, 2012, Evans was forced out of the bout after a probation violation landed him back in jail. Evans was replaced by journeyman and 40-fight veteran Vince Lucero. Bautista went on to win the fight by technical knockout (TKO) at 4:05 in the first round. Bautista has acted in several television shows as both himself and his wrestling character. He guest starred in the eighth episode of season 6 of Smallville as Aldar, an extraterrestrial who escaped from the Phantom Zone and who sucks the bones out of people for nourishment. In June 2009, he made a cameo appearance as himself on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. In 2010, he appeared in an episode of Chuck, and also made a cameo appearance in Relative Strangers. He starred in the 2010 action film Wrong Side of Town. Bautista appeared as the villainous Brass Body in the Universal Studios film The Man with the Iron Fists. He played Drax the Destroyer in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a critical and commercial success. He played Mr. Hinx in the James Bond film Spectre (2015), and starred as the villain Tong Po in the reboot of the martial arts film Kickboxer. He was widely praised for his supporting role in Blade Runner 2049 (2017). He reprised his role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). In 2018, Bautista joined his castmates in support of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn after Gunn's firing over old tweets joking about pedophilia and rape. He called Gunn's firing "nauseating" and declared that he would ask to be recast if Disney, the parent company of Marvel Studios, did not use Gunn's script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn was reinstated as the film's director in March 2019. In May 2021, he confirmed that the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be his final appearance as Drax. Bautista starred in Army of the Dead (2021). He had a villainous role in Dune, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, which was released to critical and commercial success. He starred in M. Night Shyamalan's horror film Knock at the Cabin (2023). He appeared in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery as Duke. He is set to star in the fantasy-adventure film In the Lost Lands with Milla Jovovich, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson.