‘Prey’: Meet Dane DiLiegro, the Latest Actor to Play the Iconic Predator [Interview]

Director Dan Trachtenberg described his Predator movie, Prey, as a “David and Goliath story” in a recent featurette. It’s an apt description, and not solely because it refers to the first Predator hunt on Earth, 300 years ago. It’s also because the Predator itself is a bit of a giant.

Actor Dane DiLiegro towers over Prey star Amber Midthunder at 6’9″. And that’s before you factor in the fully mechanized Predator head that sits atop DiLiegro’s own head.

Bloody Disgusting spoke with the actor to discuss what it was like to play the much more feral iteration of the iconic horror character, the extensive training it required, and more.

For starters, how did DiLiegro find his way into the role?

“Our dear friend Alec Gillis over at ADI messaged me on Instagram and had me come in for the design pitch for a project they’re doing in Canada is what he told me,” he explains. “I walk in, and there’s the Predator costume on the table with this gray, 3D printed iteration of what a Predator’s head looks like. I’m like, ‘This is Predator. This is Predator. Oh my God.’

“Dan, our director came in. Then Marty Ewing, our producer, and Jeff Cutter, our director of photography. They came into the studio, and I put this Predator suit on. Alec told me he wanted me to deliver a balletic svelteness to this character. They were making a bit of a departure from the traditional Predator. Balletic svelteness, Hmm. Okay. I’m thinking a panther, something feline, smoother, that’s very in tune with the forest. Feral was another word thrown around, primal, something very instinctual and very in tune with nature. He could run through trees naturally because he’s done it a million times, and he’s one with the woods and the forest. I tried to incorporate all those feelings and emotions; fast forward to me running around studio ADI, turning corners, jumping up on tables, doing little shifty things, and running through the parking lot.”

That svelteness factored into more than just movement for the actor.

“I had to lose 25 pounds to play this character. They wanted a lean, dynamic, more animal Predator. You know you look at a feral cat; feral cats are not very plump. Traditionally I’m bigger, more muscular. I had to get away from that.“            

In addition to slimming down, DiLiegro dedicated himself to training for the physically demanding part.

“I trained for two months parkour. I’m 6′ 9″; 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.”

Luckily, playing the film’s Predator didn’t require hours in the makeup chair. DiLiegro revealed that the process for transforming into the Feral character was more streamlined.

“One body suit, with sleeves up to my neck and down to my ankles. In the beginning, the suit was a little bit tighter. We had six suits and four heads; in the beginning, it was tight foam latex. The more you wear it, the more you use it, the more you sweat in it, it starts to loosen up; get looser, nicer, easier to get in. So, you slide into the suit, get zipped up, hike it on your shoulders, put it on, and then put on the gloves, put on the feet, and then you’re ready to go to set. When you go to set, they set up the shot, and it’s time to shoot.

“We would call it predification, ‘Can we predify Dane?’ They put the head on, and there’s a series of zips and snaps, and that was it. Maybe they would put a little glue on my back to keep the back flush, but that streamlined the process. We got it down by the end of the shoot. Like it was so quick.”

DiLiegro also detailed how his head sat in the suit’s neck, with the mechanized Predator head atop, adding complicated layers to filming.

“The visibility was minimal. My head’s in the neck. For this Predator to look forward, I had to look down at the ground, and there were two holes in the neck that I could look through. I couldn’t see more than three feet in front of me. Alec Gillis will kill me for using this word because he’s like, ‘I didn’t create a torture device.’ It wasn’t a torture device, but I was essentially blind. I couldn’t see the people in front of me, but it was an interesting challenge. We had to lay sticks on the ground for me to follow along.

“Our first AD, Rich Cowan, would be in my ear with a speaker, and he would cue me on when to do certain things, like, ‘go, walk forward, shield and shield up.’ Now, the trappers are out here. I’m looking at the ground the whole time and ‘lower your shield, and then turn and walk.’ Everything, whatever it was. It was difficult to hear anything. Because one ear is blocked and there’s a lot of motors. There are 30 servos in the head of this character. So, you can hear all the motors moving for the mandibles.“

The physically demanding role requiring precision and multitasking with a limited scope of vision meant a lot of sweat for the actor. In turn, it added even more weight to the suit.

He explains, “I mean, three months up there in Canada. We went through it all. We’d start at about 70 pounds at the beginning of the day. And foam latex just absorbs. It’s a sponge because it’s foam. So, the sweat doesn’t go anywhere. It just fills up the suit, and the suit gets heavier and heavier and heavier and heavier. I’d go down to crouch, and sweat would shoot out of my knees. You can see in some of the production stills, if I’m swinging during a fight scene, you can see the sweat just shooting out of my sleeve of this character.” 

DiLiegro shared a fight scene that ultimately didn’t make the film, much to his relief.

“There was a tree chase scene in the script; I saw it pre-vis. It eventually got cut; I’m not sure why. But we were going to be running on tree branches and jumping from branch to branch, me chasing [Amber Midthunder]. They ultimately removed that from principal photography. But I was very concerned because it would’ve been interesting to run on tree branches with the head on and wires and everything.”

While the actor is now pursuing more human characters in addition to his creature work, horror remains at the top of his list. When asked about any monsters he’d love to play post-Predator, DiLiegro didn’t hesitate to share his dream role.

‘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 honor as well.”

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