Acting in a Marvel movie is not easy, for the actors pretty much are supposed to act against a green screen with imaginary characters. The fan expectations and pressure coupled with the monotonous set environment add to the troubles, and hence, many actors describe having a terrible time shooting Marvel flicks.
Dave Bautista, who starred as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers movies, described how different the process is while filming an MCU flick. Especially compared to his latest box office blockbuster, Dune, the actor revealed one crucial difference that made it easier for him to shoot the Denis Villeneuve sci-fi flick.
Dave Bautista Compares Filming Dune to Marvel Movies
It is a no-brainer that Marvel relies heavily on CGI and special effects to make its blockbuster superhero movies. Thus, actors end up spending a lot of time against green screens, pretending to be wherever their characters are supposed to be. Often pretending to shoot with imaginary beings and elements, filming Marvel movies is not a cup of tea for every actor.
When it comes to science-fiction movies, the process is mostly the same since instead of building up huge sets, production often finds using CGI an easy way out (Avatar, Jurassic World, Star Wars, etc.). Yet despite Dune being a sci-fi tale, Dave Bautista‘s experience of shooting the movies and Marvel movies could not have been more different.
In an interview with Game Spot, the actor remarked,
“I did seven films with Marvel, so my experience with them is different; every film was different. But there were a lot of times on the Marvel stuff where I had to perform it with tennis balls, a lot of green screen, a lot of imaginary stuff.”
Bautista later added that it wasn’t the same in every Marvel movie but a lot of time that is what happened. He then added, revealing how shooting Dune was a different experience,
“And with Dune, the world’s been created for us, a lot of practical sets. And so it wasn’t that I had to depend so much on my imagination. They made it very easy for me, made it very real for me with practical sets and incredible actors. And also I didn’t have to act with CGI characters. And so it was just a completely different experience.”
While his acting in both roles is top-notch as always, Bautista’s revelations offer a rare insight as to how the two franchises differ. And perhaps it was Denis Villeneuve’s different approach that made the Dune movies even more successful.
How Dave Bautista Prepared For His Dune Role
For his Marvel role of Drax, Dave Bautista had to maintain his physicality and spend hours on the make-up chair, a process that he describes as beating him down (via GQ). Yet for most actors, putting on the make-up makes it easier for them to play the character and get into the head-space of them.
But for playing a character like Glossu Beast Rabban, the preparation was less make-up chair and more about trying to get into the world, which was already an easy job thanks to the elaborate and extensive sets of Dune.
However, it was really the help that the former wrestler got from the director Denis Villeneuve that helped him get his role right, as he revealed to Game Spot.
“I think once we got there in the world which was created, it just makes it easy. But I think my preparation for this role, for this character, was really through conversations with Denis. So it wasn’t like I had to physically prepare for it, or when I got onto set I had to come get my mind ready to start.”
Helping understand the core of Rabban, his motivation, his cowardness, his violence, and his insecurities eventually made it easier for Bautista to play the character as flawlessly as he did.
While Dave Bautista’s feat in the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be streamed on Disney+, Dune can be streamed on Max, and Dune: Part Two can be rented on Amazon.
