The story behind the original Predator costume

Hollywood special effects legend Steve Johnson is the guest of the first episode of Stan Winston's School of Character Arts' webcast The Monster Show, where he talks about the first, ill-fated Predator suit created for the first film of the series, originally worn by Belgian martial artist and aspiring action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.


From Wikipedia:

According to the documentaries included on the Region 1 release of the special edition, the original monster suit was vastly different from the final product, designed by Stan Winston. Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally slated to play the creature, but allegedly made claims that the suit was "too clumsy and too hot". The original monster was a disproportionate, ungainly creature with large yellow eyes and a dog-like head. It was nowhere near as agile as the creature portrayed by Kevin Peter Hall. After Van Damme was removed from the film and subsequent financial troubles with the studio nearly caused the project to shut down, McTiernan consulted Stan Winston. While on a plane ride to Fox studios alongside Aliens director James Cameron, Winston sketched monster ideas. Cameron suggested he had always wanted to see a creature with mandibles, which became part of the Predator's iconic look.

Watch the full episode of the webcast here

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