Dave Bautista Was Almost Cast In Always Sunny Role In 2006

While Dave Bautista might be one of the most sought-after stars right now, back in 2006--when the man known as the Animal to WWE fans was picking up championships--he was still trying to get his foot in the door in television and movies.

He had made uncredited cameos and bit parts in shows like Smallville and Relative Strangers, but it was revealed on the latest Always Sunny Podcast by Rob McElhenney that Bautista almost made it onto the show as one of the longest recurring characters, Mac's dad, Luther.

The premise of the podcast is that McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton revisit the entire show, doing a complete rewatch. During the episode, the three were discussing"Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad" where it was mentioned that this is also where we meet Mac's dad for the first time, who is played by B-horror star, Gregory Scott Cummins. However, McElhenney revealed one of the four actors they were looking at later became a big star, but Kelly nor Howerton could remember who.

"Dave Bautista," McElhenney responded. Howerton and Day were shocked.

"He's way too young," Howerton said, but then Day chimed in saying they had to age up Cummins as well since Bautista is only 10 years older than McElhenney.

"I have no recollection of this," said Kelly.

The trio talked about another name that was in the running, but it was edited out on video as well as the audio for the episode, so we can only guess and assume from here.

Obviously, Bautista went on a brief hiatus from wrestling to star in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy as Drax which became a huge hit and catapulted the former WWE Champion into pure superstardom. He would later add "Bond villain" to his resume in 2015's Spectre and return to Drax on the Guardians sequel, as well as other Marvel cameos. He officially retired from wrestling in 2019 and is awaiting his WWE Hall of Fame induction.