Dave Bautista says his Guardians of the Galaxy audition was a "nightmare." The actor has quickly become a household name, thanks to his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bautista was already huge in the world of professional wrestling before becoming an actor. He does not like to be called a movie star and likes to be referred to as an actor, letting Dwayne Johnson, another former pro wrestler, take on the title of movie star as he tries to distance himself from his wrestling background.

Dave Bautista spoke about his Guardians of the Galaxy audition during a panel at Denver Pop Culture Con over the weekend. Even pro wrestlers get scared and Bautista admits he was "terrified" over meeting with Marvel Studios. From the sound of things, it was a perfect storm. Bautista explains.

"Oh my God, it was a nightmare. I was terrified. I was really desperate at the time, I had hardly worked in three years, and I had gone broke from wrestling and I was desperate to get a job. I finally got an agent like two weeks before I got the audition for Guardians. My agent says 'You know, I really had to fight to get you this audition. It was really hard to get, they didn't really want to audition you. They didn't want any pro wrestlers, so I don't want to get your hopes up.'"

Going in with low expectations for something like the MCU is probably the right tactic. However, it seems Dave Bautista's agent could have prepared him a little better than that. Whatever the case may be, it all worked out in the actor's favor in the end. He went on and had this to say.

"He built my hopes really low, so I went in with low expectations. I called my acting coach and said, 'I don't get this.' and he flipped out because he's like the biggest fanboy. Anyway, he made me do the research and I found one picture and I said, 'That looks like me!' He babied me through this whole process, my first and second auditions, my acting coach came with me. I read for Sarah Finn, she's amazing. I read with her and she said 'Don't be nervous. Take your time, we can be here all day.' We did the audition and she said, 'Is there any way you can come back tomorrow and read for the director?'"

Dave Bautista luckily had a good team surrounding him for his Guardians of the Galaxy addition. He got the part of Drax and is now a part of MCU history, appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Additionally, he'll be in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy 3. This isn't even mentioning the many other projects Bautista is working on outside of the MCU, like Denis Villeneuve's Dune remake.

It's been quite the ride for Dave Bautista over the years. When he first got into the world of wrestling, he was told he would never make it because he was too old at the time (he was 30). With his agent telling him to have low expectations about the MCU, Bautista prevailed yet again and now has a huge career in the entertainment industry. Comic Book was the first to reveal Dave Bautista's nightmarish Guardians of the Galaxy audition.