People Are Calling Dave Bautista "Unrecognizable" After Almost 100 Pounds of Weight Loss
Dave Bautista was famous for his big muscular build. But in 2024, he’s slimmed down beyond recognition. How did he do it?
Published Sept. 9 2024, 12:31 p.m. ET
Many of us might still associate actor Dave Bautista with his role as Drax the Destroyer in the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. But he’s moved far beyond that. With roles in films such as Glass Onion and Dune, Dave has moved far past his wrestling career into being a full-blown movie star. And in 2024, he’s lost so much weight that he looks unrecognizable from his wrestling days.
In various interviews throughout the year, Dave has shared how he managed to lose so much weight. He slimmed down considerably by the time he appeared at the premiere of The Last Showgirl at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6, 2024. So we dive into everything he’s said about his weight loss since his transformation.
Dave Bautista kicked his weight loss journey into high gear after gaining weight for ‘Knock at the Cabin.’
In Knock at the Cabin, Dave plays an intruder who is sent to stop the apocalypse by forcing a family to sacrifice one of their own. A classic M. Night Shyamalan film with psychological horror and a twist ending, Dave plays a starring role. On the July 16, 2024, episode of LIVE with Kelly and Mark, he shared that he gained weight for the role.
“I put on all this weight for Knock at the Cabin. I was really big, like over 300 lbs.,” he said. However, that’s not the most Dave has weighed. In wrestling, weight is valuable. He says his body was biggest when he performed in the ring as Deacon Bautista.
“The heaviest I've ever been is 370 lbs.,” Dave said in an interview with Chris Van Vliet while promoting The Killer’s Game. “When I started Deacon, I was about 325 lbs. Throughout most of my wrestling career, I was about 290 lbs. Now I'm about 240 lbs. And I went a year and a half ago for Knock at the Cabin, I went 315 lbs. And that's when the nightmare started in getting that weight off, which has been a challenge.”
After retiring from wrestling, Dave is "really particular" about his diet.
In 2019, a feud with Triple H and Ric Flair led Dave to finally retire for good, and now he focuses more on his acting career than his wrestling career. Dave has hinted that he decided to lose some weight to avoid being typecast into roles similar to Drax for the rest of his career. One way that he lost weight was to adjust his diet. “I’m really particular about my diet,” he told Chris.
However, the main thing Dave did to lose weight was actually jiu-jitsu. “It’s the way I lose weight,” he told Kelly and Mark. “I was struggling to lose the weight, so I brought a trainer — my buddy Jason Manly — over to Budapest with me while I was filming Dune … I started shedding the weight off and I figured ‘I’ll just stick with it so I’ll get my brown belt.’”
“Muscle weighs more than fat, so clearly a lot of it is muscle weight,” Kelly said, prompting Bautista to reply, “I was trimming down, and I’ve sacrificed a lot of muscle. But I’m OK with it because I just feel more comfortable.” While Dave wasn’t necessarily unhealthy, especially because weight and health are not always related, his slimmer look could definitely contribute to a long and prolific Hollywood career.