David Bautista made a big name for himself in his show in World Wrestling where he became the six-time world champion. Like many older athletes, since he turned his attention to working out, he gets one of his biggest roles to meet RZA’s “Man with the Iron Fists.” In the movie, he plays the Iron Body, one of the main antagonists and a mercenary who can turn his body into metal. This makes him almost invulnerable; Bautista looked a lot like he did when he was in the ring.
While at the press conference for “The Man with the Iron Fists” held at the Blue House in Los Angeles, Bautista talked about what he was doing for the movie. Among the other actors in it is Cung Le who plays a bronze lion and was also a major kickboxing champion at one point. Bautista was asked what he would do with Le and if he would ever fight him “in the cage.”
“We never fought with him, but we practiced a lot together in China (where the movie was made),” Bautista said. “I want to have some scenes together. I am sure in my life to do a movie with Cung Le so that I can fight that scene with him only because he is so energetic and so intense. So we have never fought together but I have picked up a lot of good things from him.”
Bautista said that he accepted the role of the bronze body without even reading the script and that the character originally only had one or two lines as there was more of a body. This was quickly changed and immediately dismissed.
The biggest challenge for Bautista, however, was moving the fight scene between him and RZA. In addition to directing the film, RZA also plays a blacksmith who is “The Man with the Iron Fists.”
“The fight scene itself took days and days and was a pain in the ass,” Bautista said. “It was cold, it was brutal and RZA had damn iron fists in them and my arms were just cutting off because he was hitting me. I had scratches and I’m bloody.”
“We actually started fighting a few days after we got to China, and then we had to go back and finish it because it was so drawn out,” Bautista continued. “The two bands (the Blacksmith and the Brass Corps) were so strong and so invincible that we really didn’t know where to go with the fight scene. We really came in without a plan and thought we could do that horn and ad-lib and be able to get stuff up here and there, so it was really a challenge in he was himself”.
One of Bronze’s other big scenes in the movie was when he viciously attacks one of the female characters, and Bautista said the shooting was “awkward.” He describes himself as a “passive” person especially when it comes to women, which when it was essentially a “kidnapping and murder scene” it became very uncomfortable for him to do so.
“I was coming from the character, because the first instinct of an actress is to say ‘are you okay?’ But that actually made it a lot of fun for me because I had this cat on me and it was freezing because it wasn’t heated on set,” said Bautista. “Even when I picked her up I didn’t know where to touch her, and I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder and not trying to touch her because I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. Then RZA came in and said, ‘You gotta look more real.
Bautista thanked the actress for doing her a favor.
In addition to wrestling, Bautista is also a skilled mixed martial artist. The first martial learned Kali that comes from the Philippines and emphasizes club fighting based on weapons; knives and other weapons. When asked if he was trying to promote his interest in fighting in this movie, Bautista replied that he was doing it to some extent, but that it was only progress.
“The material we were doing just didn’t translate and we thought it would be in the movie, so we had to change a lot and Corey Yuen (the movie’s fight choreographer) to help us through that,” Bautista said. “We wanted this to look like a traditional kung fu fight movie especially with such strong characters, but I used a little of my Kali.”
Those who have seen “The Man with the Iron Fists” can attest to Bautista’s perfectly cast bronze body in what comes off as a badass that cannot be easily defeated. When asked if he shares anything similar with his character and if he can give advice to those who are less athletically inclined, Bautista’s answer is certainly not surprising.
“I never felt like I was invincible,” Bautista said. “Throughout my life I always felt like I was getting old. It’s kind of hard to relate to a kung fu action hero. I was trying to stay in character so that he (Corpse Brass) always felt invincible and how he acted. When he realized he wasn’t invincible and I started to destroy .I tried to go out in my head in the movie, but the best actor made me give advice on how to be invincible.
David Bautista’s next sequel is the “Chronicles of Riddick” in which he will play the character of Diaz. Before the season ended, he was asked what his dream role was.
I hate to sound cliché, but I’ve always wanted to do a vampire movie,” Bautista said. “Any superhero stuff, that’s what I’m a fan of. . I don’t want to do that, I just don’t see myself as a primary type character. I love drama, I just don’t know if I am suitable for that kind of role. But that’s the kind of stuff I like to watch though.”
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