Dave Bautista was “physically sick” before his early WWE matches.
The wrestler turned Hollywood actor — who is reprising his role as Glossu Rabbam in Dune: Part Two — has reflected on his struggle with anxiety, while revealing his methods for overcoming his stage fright.
“It’s anxiety, when I started wrestling, I was literally physically sick before I walked out [from] the curtain,” he told Arizona News.
“I used to walk out the curtain and [scream]. And all my anxiety was gone. And that’s what it is. I get nervous, I get self-conscious, then I get anxious, but as soon as I [scream] it goes away. It’s easy for me to do that. And I can relax from there,” he added.
That aggression has played into his latest role, as he had already learned to be “angry” to deal with those anxieties.
“It’s funny, because that came so natural to me. If there’s anything that I took away from professional wrestling, it’s being angry. I’m really good at being angry,” he added.
Bautista retired from WWE in 2019 after a farewell match against Triple H at “WrestleMania 35,” and he was due to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the following year.
However, a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and his acting career means the 55-year-old star is still waiting to take his place among other legends of the business.
“I was in South Africa. I was supposed to go into the Hall of Fame, but I was on this film I was committed to. I couldn’t get out of it,” he told “Cool Kicks” after being asked recently about last year’s ceremony over the festivities at “WrestleMania 39” in Hollywood.
Since his full-time WWE days started winding down, Bautista has thrived on the big screen in a wide range of roles, including the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, James Bond blockbuster Spectre, sci-fi epic Blade Runner 2049, M. Knight Shyamalan thriller Knock at the Cabin and whodunit comedy Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
