The actor and stuntman who had to don the Predator suit for the latest movie in the franchise – Prey – is 6 foot 9. Dane DiLiegro had to learn to parkour, and did a neck strengthening regime in order to prepare to take on the weight of the heavy suit. Visibility was also a challenge, what with his head being in the neck of the suit.
Speaking to Bloody Disgusting, DiLiegro says; “I trained for two months of parkour. I’m 6′ 9″ and not many 6′ 9” guys do parkour. I had to learn the basics of that. I trained in martial arts for two months.”
“I trained my neck. I teamed up with a company called Iron Neck and strengthened my neck for two months because the Predator’s head sits on top of my head, and it’s a lot of weight on the neck. It was about 13 pounds or something. On top of all the acting, I did all the stunts and the motion capture.”
After running around, almost blind, in a sweat-soaked suit for months on end, you might think that DiLiegro would want a break from horror movies. But he does have another iconic villain in his sights – one Jason Vorhees. “When I moved to Los Angeles, when I was hooked on only doing monsters, it was being a Predator and being Jason Voorhees. Jason Voorhees ties back even further into my childhood. I was him about four times for Halloween.”
“That character is fascinating to me because he’s a big supernatural child, and his movements are minimalist and effective. I mean, just tilting your head a centimeter to the right tells a completely different story of this character, and being granted the challenge to create and tell a story through Jason’s eyes to the audience, non-verbally, would be so much fun. He’s huge. He’s menacing. He doesn’t give a shit. He wants to avenge his mom.”
DiLiegro adds; “I have no idea how I would go about even being considered for a role like that, but to have that opportunity, would be astounding and an honour as well.”
He might be in luck, because we’ve heard a rumour that we might be getting some exciting Friday the 13th news soon.
While we wait to find out if DiLiegro gets his childhood wish and goes from Predator to Jason, check out our guide to the best horror movies.