The actor has lost 27kg.
Dave Bautista has addressed concerns about his weight loss after being pictured with a much slimmer frame.
The WWE legend and actor appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival last week where he showed off a 27kg lighter look.
This came as shock to many fans who are used to seeing Bautista as a bulky, ripped and muscular wrestler who used his size to his advantage to land roles such as Drax the Destroyer in the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
Now, the 55-year-old has dropped 27kg (60lbs) ahead of his new film Killer’s Game in which he portrays an assassin.
Dave Bautista addresses concerns about his weight loss
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet to promote his film, Bautista addressed the massive weight loss.
He said: “I’m getting super trimmed. This is probably the lightest I’ve been since I was 19 years old. The heaviest I’ve ever been was 370 pounds.
“When I started Deacon, I was about 325 pounds. Throughout most of my wrestling career, I was about 290 pounds.
“Now I’m about 240 pounds. Just a year and a half ago for Knock At The Cabin, I went up to 315 pounds and that’s when the nightmare started. Getting that weight off has been a real challenge.”
Bautista also talked about fans concerns, putting them at ease.
“I’ve even saw online that some people are worried about my health,” he said.
“When I say it out loud to people, I’m 6’4″ and 240 pounds. When you say that out loud, it sounds like I’m a big person. People have seen me so much bigger over the years and they think I’m anorexic, but I’m still, I’m just a large human being.
“So at 6’4″and 240 pounds, next to your typical actor, I look like a gorilla and it’s distracting.”
Bautista has decided to focus on his acting career, losing weight to try and avoid typecast roles for large and muscular characters.
To lose the weight he changed his diet, but also took up Jiu-Jitsu.
He explained: “It’s the way I lose weight.
“I was struggling to lose the weight, so I brought a trainer, my buddy Jason Manly, over to Budapest with me while I was filming Dune.”
He said that they “did nothing but grapple, like for hours. And so I started shedding the weight off and I figured I’ll just stick with it so I’ll get my brown belt.”
The former wrestler explained to Kelly Ripa that he lost a lot of muscle through the process, but said “I’m okay with it, because I just feel more comfortable.”
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