Dave Bautista Desperately Wants to Make a Romantic Comedy

The world first met Dave Bautista as a pro wrestler in WWE. So his acting career trajectory from there made perfect sense: Lots of muscle-bound heroes (in films like Guardians of the Galaxy) and intimidating heavies (like in Spectre). But Bautista has proven himself to be more than a big physical presence. He’s headlined his own movies (like Zack Snyder’s horror thriller Army of the Dead) and now is starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, where he brings a lot of nuance and complexity to a character who could be a one-note monster. (In my review of the film, I said Bautista might be the best actor pro wrestling has ever produced.)

While movies like Knock at the Cabin show Bautista’s versatility, he says there’s way more he can do. In an interview with Page Six he reveals his intense desire to make a romantic comedy — the sort of film, he says, he never gets offered.

As for why, Bautista thinks he knows…

I’m a little rough around the edges. But I always, you know, I look in the mirror and I say, I ask myself, ‘Am I that unattractive? Is there something that unappealing about me that excludes me from these parts?’

Bautista added that he’s “never had an offer to do a rom-com” but holds “high hopes” that one will come his way at some point.

With his hulking bodybuilder’s physique and extensive tattoos, Bautista would unquestionably be an unconventional leading man for a romantic comedy. But that’s why it’s a good idea — that, along with the fact that Bautista has already proven his comedic bonafides and shown himself to be an actor of surprising range. Give the guy a darn rom-com already, Hollywood!

Bautista’s new film, Knock at the Cabin, which is definitely not a romantic comedy, debuts in theaters this weekend.