Knock at the Cabin: Ben Aldridge thought he was playing Dave Bautista’s “younger boyfriend”

Spoiler Alert star Ben Aldridge thought that Dave Bautista was going to be his “daddy gay bear” boyfriend in Knock at the Cabin. 

On 3 February, the psychological horror – which M. Night Shyamalan directed – was finally released in UK cinemas. 

Based on Paul Tremblay’s acclaimed novel The Cabin at the End of the World, the film follows Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Aldridge), a married gay couple who take a vacation at a remote cabin with their seven-year-old daughter Wren (Kristen Cui). 

However, things take a suspenseful turn when the family are taken hostage by four strangers – led by Leonard (Bautista) – who demand they make the ultimate sacrifice to avert the apocalypse.

“With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost,” the official synopsis reads. 

Ahead of the film’s release, Aldridge opened up to Entertainment Weekly about being cast alongside Bautista and the funny mistake he made regarding the Marvel actor’s role.

“All it said on the email that I got was Dave Bautista was in the film. So I was doing this entire audition thinking I was auditioning to be his younger boyfriend and that Dave was gonna be this total daddy gay bear,” he explained to the news outlet. 

“I remember saying to Night in an actor-y way, ‘I’ve never seen Dave play a part like this kind of sensible father figure before. It feels like a real departure.’ He was like, ‘What are you saying?… Dave isn’t playing Eric. Are you mad?'”

In response to the hilarious story, Bautista told the aforementioned publication that the film wouldn’t be as good if he was Eric. 

 

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“I can tell you it would’ve been not as good because there’s no way I could have tackled that role the way Jonathan Groff did,” he said in between laughs. 

Elsewhere in the interview, Aldridge opened up about the connection he felt regarding the film’s religious themes and his evangelical upbringing.

“I grew up in a fiercely religious evangelical household. I’ve been on a real journey with that. I don’t know what it is. Is it healing or something?” he explained.

“It’s so revealing to be connecting to things that I have lived and I understand so well and that feel very specific to me and to our community.”

Towards the end of his sit down, Aldridge gushed about his continued rise in the film world as an openly gay actor.

“I could never have imagined that, 10 years later, I would be an out actor playing gay roles, and it being the best my career has been,” he explained.

Knock at the Cabin also stars Nikki Amuka-Bird (Luther), Abby Quinn (Mad About You) and Rupert Grint (Servant).

It marks Shyamalan’s first movie since Old (2019). The famed director is best known for horror films with iconic twists, such as The Sixth Sense (1999), Signs (2002), The Village (2004) and The Visit (2015).

You can watch the trailer here or below.

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