Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista has an unexpected role in Brittany Snow's directorial feature debut, Parachute.
The film, which Snow also co-wrote with Summer '03's Becca Gleason, centres on Riley, played by Yellowjackets' Courtney Eaton. Fresh out of a treatment clinic after struggling with an eating disorder, she meets Ethan, sparking a relationship that Parachute charts over several years.
Bautista plays Bryce, the manager, writer and director of a failing murder mystery dinner theatre where everybody guesses the killer straight away.
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Bautista and Snow previously co-starred in the 2017 movie Bushwick.
Related: Marvel boss calls Dave Bautista "one of the best actors" in the MCU
Pitch Perfect star Snow sat down for an exclusive chat with Digital Spy ahead of the film's UK premiere on Friday (November 3), where she opened up about Bautista, his role, and how she cast him.
"He is just the most genuinely, kind-hearted person that I've worked with," she began.
"Because of Bushwick, and because it was just me and him the whole movie, we got really close and we really had such a kinship with each other.
"We stayed in touch, obviously, and I know what a great actor he is, and I know that he doesn't necessarily always get to play parts where he gets to really sink into something that's really different."
Related: Dave Bautista lands next lead movie role following MCU exit
The actress-turned-director continued: "So I wrote that part for him, and there were more scenes that I had to end up cutting, which I think was the most devastating part of the whole thing, because he's so good in all of his moments.
"And that's really who he is: not failing, obviously, because he's the biggest thing ever. But genuinely he's so sweet, and wanting to connect with people and help them.
"So, yeah, I called him up, and I was just like, 'I know this is weird, but I need you to do me a huge favour'. Luckily, he read the script and loved it. I owe him a lot."
Parachute receives its UK premiere at Raindance Film Festival on Friday, November 3.
Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
