There are plenty of elements in  Guardians of the Galaxy that are incredibly well executed, from the stunning production design and flawless VFX, to the tight balance between sincerity and humour. Beyond all those things, however, are the assured, confident performances from the cast. Everyone not only pulls their weight, but also several additional tonnes.

Which is why Dave Bautista’s performance, as Drax, is so remarkable. With little experience as a screen actor, Bautista managed to steal several scenes from his co-stars, and made a pretty good attempt at running off with the movie, covered in so much make-up and tattoos as to render him almost unrecognisable.

Below you can see our full interview with Bautista, about the differences between performing in a wrestling ring, and performing on a movie set, but there’s one quote in particular that stood out. We’d spoken about the reaction to his casting by fans of the comic, and the doubts they expressed. Then we moved on to whether Bautista had had any doubts about his ability to pull off the role:

“If you’re not afraid to put yourself in the role of student, if you always look at everything as a learning experience, and come to terms with the fact that you don’t know everything about everything, then you don’t always have to be – like me, I realised, the way I look, and that element about me, that I’m a tough guy. I’m legitimately a tough guy, but I don’t feel like I have to prove I’m a tough guy, and I don’t feel like you have to tell me I’m a tough guy, because I know I’m a tough guy. So I don’t need to wear that on my sleeve. I can let my emotions show, and I can be vulnerable, and I can be a student.”

Check out the rest of the interview below.

Guardians of the Galaxy is released today in the UK, you can see our 4* review here and all our coverage of the movie here including Premiere interviews, more junket interviews and the press conference in full.