Dave Bautista Praises James Gunn for Looking at Him as Performer Instead of Wrestler Movie The actor famous as Drax the Destroyer in the 'Guardian of the Galaxy' movies also opens up about suffering an 'emotional breakdown' after landing his big Hollywood break. May 10, 2021 AceShowbiz - Wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista suffered an "emotional breakdown" after landing the role of Drax the Destroyer in 2014 blockbuster " The "life-changing" role gave the star his big Hollywood break after moving on from his wrestling career, and he has since gone on to portray the character in a number of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies. Describing the gruelling process, he said, "It was months of auditions and screen tests, and flying back and forth to L.A., 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."