Dave Bautista opens up about drastic weight loss

Dave Bautista attends The Killer's Game LA Special Screening on September 9 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty Images

Dave Bautista wants to lose weight because he looks “like a gorilla” next to other actors.

The 55-year-old former wrestler has sparked concern in recent weeks with his slimmed-down appearance and, while he acknowledged he is “killing [himself]” to be slim, he thinks it is important so he doesn’t look too “distracting” on camera.

Speaking on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, he said: “It’s weird because people think, like for me, people say, ‘God, you’re skinny.’ I even saw online some people are worried about my health, and when I say out loud to people, ‘I’m 6′4″, 240 pounds’ it sounds like I’m a big person.

“But to me, because people have seen me so much, so you know, so much bigger over the years, and you know, they think I’m anorexic.

“But I’m still just a large human being, so at 6′4″, 240 pounds next to your typical actor, I look like a gorilla, and it’s distracting.

“I’ll probably lose a few more pounds. I’m basically killing myself to be this trim. I’m training hard.”

Chloe Coleman and Dave Bautista in a scene from My Spy (2020).

Bautista began trimming down after getting “uncomfortable big” for his role in 2023 thriller Knock at the Cabin, having gained weight to be “around 315 pounds” for the role.

He said: “I started trimming down for a particular reason. Why? One, I started trimming down because I just got fat ...

“When I was younger, I was carrying lots and lots of muscle. This I had to put on, like you know, between films. I had a very short period of time to put the suede on. I packed it on with french fries and pancakes.

“That’s how I did it, and the director [M. Night Shyamalan] asked me, he said, ‘You know, I don’t want you to look like a powerlifter. I just want you to look like a great big guy.’ And so now, looking back at it, man, I probably overdid it.

“I was probably a little too big, but at the time I was just thinking, ‘I got to get big, got to get big, I got to get big’, and I put on an uncomfortable amount of weight, and it took me forever to shed it out.”