Dave Bautista

I never excelled at one sport or had a very strong passion for anything other than wrestling and bodybuilding. ”

I was an amateur wrestler, which I loved. It was my passion, but I started really late; I was a junior in high school when I began. ”

Drax isn't your average stereotypical soldier/warrior/musclehead. He actually has some depth. It was a character that I wanted to play, not only because I love acting so much, but also, I needed to play to get people to actually take me seriously as an actor and get away from the pro wrestling label. ”

My first acting lessons were Shakespeare. The first time I ever started working with a coach was doing scenes from 'Measure for Measure,' which were tough dramatic scenes. And then 'Taming of the Shrew,' which required comedic timing. And that's the kind of stuff I love. ”

I was a poor kid. I came from nothing. We didn't have any money; a lot of times we didn't have any food, and now, all of a sudden, I'm a superhero in a Marvel movie? Talk about the American dream, man - I'm living it. ”

For some reason, I struggle seeing myself as a leading man. ”

It was always one of my favorite things, the action figures, the video games, when I was with WWE, even though I'm not a gamer. I would literally go out and buy the games just so I could play myself. ”

I was actually sitting on stage at a press conference one day, and I totally lost touch with reality. I just thought to myself: 'Vin Diesel is sitting next to me, and Benicio Del Toro's on the other side. This is weird, man.' ”

I had been struggling to get roles in Hollywood for three and a half years after leaving the WWE. Then I finally got an agent - the agent I have now. He's a great guy, but he turned me down three times before he even decided to take me on a as a client. ”

Know your lines; otherwise, have an open mind because you want to get lost in the moment. When you have talented actors and directors to work with, then it's pretty easy to do. ”