Dave Bautista first gained recognition as Drax, the fierce yet endearing warrior in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Over the past decade, he has taken on numerous tough-guy roles, including appearances in the James Bond film Spectre and the Dune series.
However, the 56-year-old actor has also demonstrated his depth in dramatic performances, portraying a teacher haunted by apocalyptic visions in Knock at the Cabin and an insecure incel influencer in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Now, in director Paul W.S. Anderson’s post-apocalyptic feudal Western In the Lost Lands, Bautista steps into the role of a classic hero—a royal-employed gunslinger in the stoic and wary mold of spaghetti Western outlaws. For Bautista, the opportunity was one to embrace.
He described the character as something new for him, explaining that it felt a bit outside of his comfort zone. According to him, the gunslinger had a cool, dark, and mysterious presence.
He recalled that Anderson had assured him that he would be cool, dark, and mysterious, as well as sexy. He further mentioned that Anderson had told him he wouldn’t just get the girl, but every girl in the film.
Bautista shared further thoughts on the film in the discussion below.
Much of the film consists of scenes shared between him and Milla Jovovich. When asked how he found her as a scene partner, Bautista admitted that he always preferred to be upfront if he was a fan of someone he was about to work with.
Since it was difficult to predict how others would react, he said he liked to get it out of the way immediately. He revealed that he had told her from the start that working with her was a nerve-racking experience because she had been placed on a pedestal in his mind.
However, he described her as incredibly easygoing. He also acknowledged that there were multiple occasions during filming when he found himself thinking, “Holy shit… Fucking Milla Jovovich.”
Paul spent over a year developing the look of the Lost Lands in Unreal Engine before filming. This allowed the digital world to be composited, rendered, and viewed on set via playback.
When asked how Anderson had introduced him to that unique technological approach, Bautista explained that it had not been a single conversation since they had discussed it frequently.
He admitted that he hadn’t initially understood the technology, so Anderson had simply allowed him to see it in action. According to Bautista, Anderson had shown him what he was looking at while they were filming.
While Bautista had been staring at blue walls, Anderson had already been able to see the fully realized world. Bautista stated that this helped him visualize the environment as well.
He also emphasized that the experience had been very intimate, as he had worked with great actors and had practical elements on set, reducing the need to stretch his imagination. He credited Anderson with making the process incredibly easy for him.
The film opens with Bautista narrating directly to the audience in a close-up shot, one of several key moments that highlight his role. When asked if there was a particular sequence he was most proud of, he admitted that he tended to revisit past projects and critique his performances.
He explained that whenever he watched his previous work—whether it was from a year ago, two years ago, or even six months ago—he often thought about how he could have done things differently.
Despite this, he expressed pride in how much he had improved as an actor. Bautista shared that he took criticism well, explaining that no one was harder on him than he was on himself.
However, he revealed that he didn’t tend to look back on films and pick out specific moments that made him particularly proud. Instead, he considered it a form of pressure he placed on himself to continue growing as an actor.
Bautista transitioned into screen acting in his late 30s after a career in professional wrestling. When asked if he still viewed his work as a progression from one performance to the next, he confirmed that he measured his career by the people he had the opportunity to work with.
He compared it to his experience in wrestling, stating that he took pride in having shared scenes with actors like Milla Jovovich, Jodie Foster, and Sir Ben Kingsley.
He openly admitted that he was proud of those experiences. However, he reiterated that when it came to his own performance, he would never say, “Yeah, I’m really proud of that.”
In the Lost Lands is now playing in theaters.
