Dave Bautista, popular for playing the role of Drax in the MCU, recently opened up to Collider about preparing for his role in the upcoming Highlander reboot film alongside Henry Cavill. He revealed that despite his drastic weight loss recently, he has been asked to put on more muscle for his role as The Kurgan. He said:
I’ve been training since then, with a couple weeks in California. So I’ve been training for quite a bit. And it’s a grind. Not only did I have… the physical stuff, the stunt training, the sword fight training, the fight training. But Chad has also asked me to put on a few pounds, so I’ve been on weight training on top of that as well. So it’s been a grind.
Playing the role of the main antagonist of the film, he would have to match Cavill’s mastery of the sword in the film, and obviously look the part of a major threat, which is why Chad Stahelski has asked for weight gain. At the same time, with the filmmaker at the helm, Bautista also believes the former DCEU star is the perfect choice for such a reboot.
Dave Bautista Believes Henry Cavill Is the Perfect Man to Lead Highlander
Known for playing the role of Geralt of Rivia in the popular Netflix series, The Witcher, many people already knew how good Henry Cavill is with the fantasy genre and in swordplay in the series. But more than that, Dave Bautista believes Cavill is perfect for Highlander because of of uncompromising work ethic.
In an interview with MovieWeb, the Killer’s Game star recalled that even before the filming dates were finalised, he was seeing Cavill train to his utmost limit in the gym during physical preps. That passion, mixed with dedication, is something that Bautista had rarely seen before. He said:
We haven’t started filming yet. I can tell you this: Henry is easily one of the hardest-working actors I’ve ever worked with in my life. It’s because I’ve seen him train. I’ve seen him work out because it’s a grind, man. It’s a grind. It’s like a pro athlete grind. I say that coming from 20 years of professional wrestling, before that, amateur wrestling. I know what hard work in a gym, workouts, and training for professional sports. I know what it is. I know how hard it is. I’ve been through a fight camp.
Even during his recent injury while preparing for the filming phase, the star kept on going with his upper body training while his leg healed. Thus, when Bautista makes such claims, it’s not hard to believe them to be true.
Upcoming Projects Dave Bustista Is Involved in Alongside Highlander
As read in the intro, Bautista was doing weight training and a lot of other physical conditioning before Highlander’s filming even began. It was because the star will be joining Jake Gyllenhaal in Road House 2, the sequel to the 1989 remake, released in 2024.
Along with several projects that the star was involved in this year, like Afterburn, Killer’s Game, and Trap House, it seems like he’s also ready to create something of his own. According to Polygon, Bautista is in the works of creating a new multimedia franchise through his production company, Dogbone Entertainment, which is currently titled Cat Assassin.
According to this collaboration with Titan1Studios, the franchise will initially include an animated series, publishing works such as comic books, and an action/stealth video game already in production.
Here’s more information about Highlander that we currently know.
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