Former Kratos turned down God Of War for health reasons, hopes Bautista stays healthy

Appearing on a panel at Fan Expo Canada (via Collider) over the weekend, Judge was effusive about Hurst, saying “who better” than he to play Kratos. However, he was worried about Bautista taking the role because of the health issues related to bulking up and slimming down. “When I heard the name of Bautista, I thought, ‘Didn’t he just lose like 100 pounds?'” Judge said. “So I hope he’s going to be great. I think he’s going to be great. I just hope it doesn’t cause any health issues to put back on all that weight.” 

Judge was speaking from experience. He took himself out of the running to play Kratos because he “didn’t want to do it. At 62-years-old, work[ing] 16-to-18 hour days. I didn’t want to be dieting constantly; I didn’t want to be working out constantly.” The actor had been through it as one of the stars of Stargate SG-1. He continues:

We had talked, and I thought, ‘God, what a great legacy to leave for my grandson.’ So I started working out. I got bigger. Then, just the reality of it… because I did read for it. It was so hard for me to memorize my lines, which I never had a problem with. And that was my mind and body starting to tell me, ‘You don’t want to do this.’ I was one of the leads of Stargate at 33 to 44 and then stopped. Now, at 62, to be the lead, I just have no desire to live that way again.

Thankfully, Bautista is, relatively, a spring chicken at 57. Stay safe out there.