Dave Bautista has revealed he wants to start working as a director as soon as possible.

• READ MORE: ‘Army Of The Dead’ review: fear and groaning in zombie-ridden Las Vegas

The 52-year-old former wrestler said he had been planning to move behind the camera for years, but isn’t looking to replicate the kind of big-budget films he’s acted in – including Zack Snyder’s new Netflix zombie epic Army Of The Dead.

Speaking to SFX Magazine (per Contactmusic), Bautista explained: “That’s kind of been my goal for years. I’m slowly working my way behind the camera.

“I’m in my 50s man – my time in front of the camera is going to be limited! But I love filmmaking. And I also love storytelling, which is what I loved about wrestling.

“And so I hope to have a future in this. I want to be able to put stuff on screen and not necessarily blockbuster films. It’s definitely on my bucket list to direct at least one film and it’ll most likely be a small drama. But that’s what I love.”

Bautista also cited Snyder’s involvement in Army Of The Dead as one of the reasons he signed on to the project, hoping he could pick up a few directorial tips.

“You look at me and you think one thing, but then you get to know me or see how passionate I am about certain things and you’ll see a whole different person,” he said.

“And that’s the same with Zack. He is just an artist, man, this guy’s just an artist. I also really wanted to work with him because I wanted to learn from him. I wanted to see what he sees visually as a director.”

One of the first techniques he may have picked up from Snyder is a moratorium on furniture, after it was confirmed last week (May 21) that the director banned chairs from the set of Army Of The Dead.

“There’s no sitting down, like, I banned chairs from the set,” said Snyder. “But the nice thing is, it’s really intimate. I can just talk to the actors right there, I’m not back in a monitor across the room. It was definitely the most purely engaged I’ve been making a movie.”