Dave Bautista feels 'relief' to say goodbye to Guardians of the Galaxy's Drax

Dave Bautista feels a "relief" that he has said goodbye to his 'Guardians of the Galaxy' character.

The 53-year-old actor is best known in the acting world for playing Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the 2014 movie, but he insists it "wasn't all pleasant" portraying the comic book character.

He said: "I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him.

"But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down."

Bautista - who has since gone on to appear in the likes of James Bond film 'Spectre', and sci-fi movie 'Dune' - insisted it was a "silly performance" and he is keen to do "more dramatic stuff".

He said: "And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy - it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff."

Bautista admits he would work for free if he could team up with his 'Dune' and 'Blade Runner 2049' director Denis Villeneuve on a regular basis.

He added to GQ magazine: "If I could be a number one [on the callsheet] with Denis, I would do it for f****** free.

"I think that’s how I could find out how good I could be. He brings out the best in me. He sees me in a different light, sees the performer that I want to be. That might be how I solve the puzzle."

In May 2021, Bautista told how he had an "emotional breakdown" when he landed the role of Drax.

He said: "It was months of auditions and screen tests, and flying back and forth to LA, and keeping my fingers crossed. They wouldn't exclude me from the role, but they wanted to audition other people, so I'm just holding on, in the mix. I think I wasn't established as an actor. They still had reservations.

"But when I finally got the role, I had an emotional breakdown. It was life-changing. It was life-altering for me. I had been struggling just to even get auditions. It was like three years after I'd left wrestling. I left wrestling on top. I took a chance on myself, and really struggled for three years.

"If it had gone a different way, I would have been crushed. I would have been devastated. But it literally changed my career. It changed my life.