It isn’t every day that you hear that a cameo role in a movie with already a star-studded lineup was able to steal the limelight of the movie. However, that is exactly what happened when Dave Bautista was chosen by Denis Villeneuve to portray the role of Sapper Morton in the science-fiction movie, Blade Runner 2049.
Dave Bautista opens up about appearing in Blade Runner 2049
Dave Bautista is one of the most established actors in the industry at the moment. The former wrestler has been making a lot of headlines recently after he reprised his role as Glossu ‘Rabban’ Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi movie, Dune: Part Two.
However, this is not the first time that Dave Bautista has worked alongside the incredible director. Before first portraying the role of Rabban in the first Dune movie, the actor also took up the role of Sapper Morton in Villeneuve’s science-fiction movie, Blade Runner 2049.
Dave Bautista recently opened up in an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and revealed how Denis Villeneuve was initially not on board with the idea of casting him as Sapper Morton in Blade Runner 2049. He said,
“I had to work really hard to work with Denis the first time in Blade Runner 2049. I had to like audition and screen-test and makeup-test and really win him over, because the first time I met him for that role, he was like, ‘I’m sorry but you’re just all wrong for this role.’
But the producers wanted me, but they didn’t want to try to force Denis into this, so I kept, like, test after test after test until I finally, like, won his approval, and he hired me.”
As a result, Dave Bautista ended up appearing in Blade Runner 2049 and got a lot of appreciation from the fans for the portrayal of his small yet significant role in the movie.
Blade Runner 2049 is currently available for rent on Apple TV+.
Dave Bautista was nervous before he got the part of Rabban in Dune
Dune was based on a novel of the same name by Frank Herbert which first came out in 1965. Over the years, a lot of filmmakers and directors have tried their luck to successfully bring this spellbinding piece of writing to life but almost all of them failed until Denis Villeneuve came along in 2017.
A lot of big stars like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and many others portrayed roles on Dune. Bautista further revealed in the interview with Jimmy Fallon that he already knew that Dune was happening and actually wanted to be part of the project so badly. He said,
“For Dune, we had been tracking it, because we knew it was going to happen, and I wanted to be a part of it, but I didn’t want to hit Denis up and ask him personally, because I’m just not that guy. So I was on another film, and he actually called me and he said, ‘Hey, I’m doing this film,’ like I’m not supposed to know what it is. [laughs]
I’m, like, dying inside. Like, sweating and he said, ‘I have this part and the character is the beast Rabban.’ And I knew exactly who he was. He said, ‘Now, I’d really love you to come play this part.’ I literally walked around in circles. I was on the phone, walking around in circles because I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
Dune was a massive critical and commercial success at the box office and even went on to win 6 Oscar Awards at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony. After the success of Dune, Denis Villeneuve started working on a sequel immediately which was released earlier this week.
Dune is currently streaming on HBO Max.
Dave Bautista went on to reprise his role as Rabban once again in Dune: Part Two which is currently screening in theatres all across the world.
