14 DAY TRIAL // “Predator” came out in 1987 and is considered today a classic. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is set deep in the jungle, where a group of military men are faced with an unknown (and often invisible) killer that is not human.
The Predator is actually actor Kevin Peter Hall in a costume, as fans probably know. But here’s a little known fact: before Hall, it was Jean Claude Van Damme who auditioned for the part and even got to play it for a few days.
Special effects guy Steve Johnson appeared on Stan Winston School’s The Monster Show and, as you can see in the video below, explained how JCVD thought the part in “Predator” was something else and how furious he was when he found out what it really meant for him: which is, to be a stuntman in a costume, walking around the set.
The fact that the initial version of the Predator looked like a lobster thingy didn’t help, and JCVD hated having to walk around in a rubber pink suit for the scenes in which the monster had its invisibility “cloak” on. He expected to put his martial arts on show and even go up against Schwarzenegger.
The video also includes actual footage of Van Damme in the silly-looking suit, but also a photo of the Predator in its initial version. You can also find that above.
Now is this a cool story or what?
