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"So, you know, a little embarrassed but not ashamed"
Yes, Dave Bautista has tattoos that didn't turn out exactly the way he wanted...but he's a good sport about it!
Sitting down with GQ for a video exploring his ink, the action star admitted there were "a few tattoos that didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted."
The one he spent the most time discussing was an unintentional portrait of a successful actor on his thigh.
"I found this really cool picture that I love and I always wanted to do this," he said rolling up his shorts to reveal the inking. "'Gentleman Hooligan'. ‘Cause it kind of always felt like who I was."
The phrase "Gentleman Hooligan" was written over an image of a man wearing a cap...and for those familiar with a certain gangster show it is immediately recognizable.
"I’m really from the streets. I grew up poor and that was kind of the life I knew until I was in my 30s," Bautista explained. "But I always consider myself a gentleman as well. I give a lot of respect to people because that’s just the person I am. That’s how I was raised."
"But I found this cool picture and it was of Cillian Murphy from ‘Peaky Blinders,’" he continued, "and I asked John [tattoo artist] to alter it so it didn’t look so much like Cillian Murphy. And I got it and I thought okay that doesn’t look exactly like I have a tattoo of Cillian Murphy on my thigh."
YouTube / GQ
However, he recalled, "the first time I posted it on my social media, all I got was ‘oh my god. You’ve got a tattoo of Cillian Murphy.’"
"Well, yeah I guess I do," he said with a hearty chuckle.
"It is what it is. I am a fan," he said graciously. "So, you know, a little embarrassed but not ashamed."
"So Cillian, there you go. Your face is tattooed on my thigh," the wrestler concluded.
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