In the matter of a decade, Dave Bautista has become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, between his role as Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel movies, finding a role in a James Bond film and being a part of the Dune 2 cast among a long list of credits to his name. Bautista’s latest part is in Brittany Snow’s indie directorial debut, Parachute, where he plays the manager of a struggling murder mystery diner. When CinemaBlend spoke to the Pitch Perfect star, she shared how Bautista became part of the thoughtful drama.
Parachute is a personal movie to Brittany Snow, who has called it somewhat “autobiographical” to her own experiences. It follows a young woman named Riley (Yellowstone’s Courtney Eaton), who forms a complex relationship with a guy named Ethan (Thomas Mann) after getting out of rehab for an eating disorder. When I asked her about the story behind Dave Bautista’s involvement, here’s what she shared:
Well, he’s a very busy man, so obviously this was a favor because there’s no way that he’d just chose this… I mean maybe, but Dave is a friend of mine who did this movie called Bushwick together back in the day, and we just became really good friends. I think he’s such a special person and he really was there for me and saw me in such an interesting time when we did Bushwick. I was going through a breakup at that point and he just like held space for me and listened to me and was such a bud. And so, we always wanted to work together again.
Brittany Snow and Dave Bautista both starred in a 2017 action thriller called Bushwick, where Snow played a graduate student who ends up rolling with Bautista’s combat veteran character, Stupe, following an intense incident on the streets of Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. During the making of the movie, Snow shared that she became good friends with Bautista and they’d been itching to work together again. As she continued:
[We] kept trying in different facets and then I said, ‘You know, I’m writing this movie, I really want you to be in it.’ He said yes, even before reading the script. And so, I wrote the Bryce character for Dave in a way to maybe showcase the fact that he’s sort of like that in real life. Just this open-hearted, genuine sweet guy. And he plays all these huge characters because of his stature and really at the end of the day, he’s just the sweetest man.
Bautista has a lot he’s juggling as a Hollywood star, especially now as he transitions from playing Drax in the MCU to being in a buddy cop movie with Jason Momoa and doing an apocalyptic action movie with Samuel L. Jackson. His role in Parachute isn’t really his typical M.O., but like Brittany Snow shared, she wrote the part specifically for him as a tribute to their real-life friendship.
As Snow spoke about, Bautista came into her life at a pivotal moment where she really needed a shoulder to lean on set. They’ve remained friends since, and she wrote the role of Bryce to show others how “genuine” and “sweet” he is in real life. The small role has him providing support to Riley as she attempts to move forward in her life following rehab. There’s some cute heart-to-heart moments between Eaton and Bautista that shows a side of the actor we don’t usually see.
Parachute is now playing in theaters and set to hit VOD on April 12. Check out what other 2024 movies are coming out in April here on CinemaBlend.