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Fans Express Concern for Dave Bautista After He Looks Unrecognizable in New Photos

Some have expressed concern for Dave Bautista after seeing new red carpet photos of the former professional wrestler.

Bautista, 55, has had a hectic 2024, which kicked off with his role in the blockbuster hit Dune: Part Two. He appeared more recently in two September releases: The Killer’s Game, an action-backed film about a hit man, and The Last Showgirl, a drama co-starring Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis.

It was at The Last Showgirl premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, Sept. 6, when the photos in question were taken. Bautista posed on the red carpet wearing a black suit with a black shirt underneath that had a low enough neckline to reveal some of the tattoos on the upper part of his chest. He paired the look with shiny black shoes, a pair of black sunglasses and a few strings of pearls that he wore around his neck.

When Bautista shared photos of his red carpet look on social media, one of his followers declared that he still looks “Handsome as ever” while another praised, “Looking good my brother.”

“He looks amazing!” another fan agreed.

But some thought the Guardians of the Galaxy actor looked like he lost weight, and wondered if he was perhaps “slimming down for a role.” Others suggested his appearance was because of dieting choices or, more generally, of his time in Hollywood.

“Why do you look so small?” one person asked in response to a post on social media, showing photos contrasting Bautista’s bulked-up look as a pro wrestler with his more recent red carpet physique. "Question: what happened to Dave Bautista?" the user wrote to caption the side-by-side photos.

“He got older but he still in great shape just more thin,” one person wrote in defense of Bautista, adding, “I saw him in person the man is still a beast.”

TRIMMED WWE legend and Hollywood star Dave Bautista shows off dramatic body transformation after shedding weight for latest role

The Guardians of the Galaxy actor went on an intense diet a year and a half ago after wrapping up M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin.

The Marvel star revealed his unbelievable new physique on the red carpet and he now looks completely different to the behemoth that set the world of wrestling alight in the 2000s.

Bautista told Chris Van Vliet: "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 is 370lbs (26st). When I started Deacon, I was about 325lbs (23st).

"Throughout most of my wrestling career I was about 290lbs (21st). Now I'm about 240lbs (17st).

"And I went a year and a half ago for Knock at the Cabin, I went 315lbs (23st). And that's when the nightmare started.

"Getting that weight off, which has been a challenge. Now I'm really particular about my diet."